I Love You the Purplest

Two very different but equally beloved young boys constantly badger their mother to tell them who she loves best. She finds an imaginative way around this universal problem by associating the personalities of the boys to different things that she loves. She tells one son, "I love you the bluest. I love you the color of a dragonfly at the tip of its wing....The mist of a mountain. The splash of a waterfall. The hush of a whisper." To her other son she says, "I love you the reddest. I love you the color of the sky before it blazes into night. I love you the color of a leopard's eyes... A wide open hug. The thunder of a shout."This heartwarming story illustrates how acknowledging a child's unique characteristics can affirm that child's lovable nature. Who wouldn't be satisfied with those answers-these two boys certainly are.

Barbara Joosse is a full-time writer and mother. She lives with her family in a little stone house in Wisconsin. Ms. Joosse has a degree in journalism, but for the past 19 years she has devoted her time and talents to writing nearly twenty books for children.