Love, Splat by Rob Scotton

Love, Splat by Rob Scotton

Rating: 5 lovey stars

Well...I started this on Valentine's Day.  Might as well finish it, despite my tardiness...

We love these Splat books by Rob Scotton.  All of the books have cute, quirky illustrations; they tell a simple, solid message; they inspire some giggles by any boy or girl nearby me.  Can't beat that!

In Love, Splat our sweet but smelly, second-guessing, simply-minded feline hero finds the moxie to write a Valentine to the fluffy cute cat that he likes.  Enter Spike, the cat who is always foiling his plans.  Spike and Splat compete in their own cat ways to show each other (not really Kitten) who likes this special girl more.  With each contest Splat feels more and more sorry for himself--clearly, he thinks, Spike is the better choice. He's so downhearted that he just throws away his Valentine.

Spike doesn't.  He gives his to Kitten.  It is obnoxiously large and says: "You're SO lucky that I like YOU!"  (Are you rolling your eyes?  You should be!  But not in front of your kids, lest they pick up this bad habit.)

"I feel loved when I show off my muscles...  Or sometimes
I act like a living waffle.  I am a walking calculator."

Fluffy daintily plucks Splat's card from the trash, reads it, and loves it.  It says, simply: "I like you!"  She gives him a special Valentine that explains, with a little more flair, that the feeling is mutual.

Simple stuff.  Sweet stuff.  That's about as mushy as I want my kids to read right now!  Though Lorelei declared last week that she wants to marry my good friend's son Owen, my line--that I will be repeating until she is out of college--is "Have boys for friends first."

I've included here one of the many activities creative teachers have done after reading this book to their class.  This teacher had her kids add details to Splat and add words to the heart he is holding.  I smiled at this child's answer to the teacher's first words "I feel loved when..."  What a character this kid seems to be!  Love it.