A review by panda_incognito
All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan
5.0
This is a childhood favorite that I received on my first Christmas. I have always loved it. It's so full of emotional depth and familial love, and the illustrations are beautiful. My appreciation for the farm setting also grew deeper and more personal over time, thanks to all of my beautiful memories of time spent at my uncle's farm as an older kid and teen.
The night before my first farm-themed storytime, I thought of this book and knew I wanted to read it. I brought in my copy, since the library no longer own this title, and I read it to a full crowd of preschoolers, parents and teachers, and some little ones. The younger kids lost interest and got noisier near the last third, but the preschoolers stayed focused and seemed to enjoy it, and one of the preschool teachers gazed at the pages with delight in her face. I wondered if she knew the book and if it meant something to her personally, or if she just loved the farm setting or theme.
I didn't use this for my Saturday storytimes, since I had very young children for both, but I'm glad that I got to read it earlier this week. I also had more flexibility to use a longer book because I used a very short, attention-getting pop-up book for the other title.
The night before my first farm-themed storytime, I thought of this book and knew I wanted to read it. I brought in my copy, since the library no longer own this title, and I read it to a full crowd of preschoolers, parents and teachers, and some little ones. The younger kids lost interest and got noisier near the last third, but the preschoolers stayed focused and seemed to enjoy it, and one of the preschool teachers gazed at the pages with delight in her face. I wondered if she knew the book and if it meant something to her personally, or if she just loved the farm setting or theme.
I didn't use this for my Saturday storytimes, since I had very young children for both, but I'm glad that I got to read it earlier this week. I also had more flexibility to use a longer book because I used a very short, attention-getting pop-up book for the other title.