You Are My I Love You

A few years ago my close friend's dad passed away.  I wanted to give her something to let her know I was thinking about her.  I decided to try and find a children's book that captures the relationship between a child and her father.  This proved a little difficult as it seemed like most books had mothers or were specifically about fathers and sons.  But then I found You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano and illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa.

I loved it.  It is about the parent child relationship and since it is illustrated with bears it is gender neutral (although I personally think it looks like a dad and a daughter).  It begins with 

"I am your parent;

you are my child.

I am your quiet place;

you are my wild."

And it continues in this manner - I am . . . you are . . . . It shows the parent as the steady, loving influence that is always there for his child and the child as the fun, puddle jumping, exploring - give meaning to life - influence on her parent.  It is a very sweet book and a great gift for many occasions - father's (or mother's) day, graduation, birthdays . . .