The love that grew by Sarah Ayoub & Mimi Purnell

The love that grew is a very gently written picture book about the love a mother has for her growing family. Each new addition is loved just as much as the other children who came before. The story begins with the following verse:

“Let me tell you of a power that can never be tamed,
of how I promise to love you all the same.
Something so special you must never forget,
no matter how big our family may get…”

Each beautifully illustrated double page has four simple rhyming lines describing a mother’s love that will draw the reader in. Her love is “Protective like the toughest shield, with the kind of strength that will never yield.” Two of the final pages show diverse families floating in heart-shaped hot air balloons with the words:

“Like an expanding balloon that flies up high,
powered by magic you cannot buy,
that down the track might once more soar
to love another, and maybe more!”

This book would be a perfect gift for a mother-to-be or family with a new baby as well as a great Mother’s Day present.

Themes: Families, Mothers, Love, Mother’s Day, Babies, Rhyme.

Kathryn Beilby