Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems

by Eloise Greenfield, Leo and Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

Overview

This award-winning poetry collection includes sixteen poems that tell of love and the simple joys of everyday life seen through the eyes of a child, by legendary author Eloise Greenfield with illustrations by Caldecott Medal-winning illustrators Diane and Leo Dillon.

Each of these sixteen poems is spoken straight from the perspective of a child. Riding on a train, listening to music, playing with a friend...each poem elicits a new appreciation of the rich content of everyday life. The poems are accompanied by both portrait and panorama drawings that deepen the insights contained in the words.

This beloved book of poetry is a Reading Rainbow Selection, an ALA Notable Children's Book, and the winner of George C. Stone Center for Children's Books' Recognition of Merit Award.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064430975
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/23/1986
Series:	Reading Rainbow Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	411,537
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Eloise Greenfield’s first book was published in 1972. She was the author of forty-eight children’s books including Honey, I Love and Other Poems and The Great Migration. She received many awards, including the 2018 Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Eloise was a beloved children’s book creator whose pioneering voice, especially for the Black American experience, has made her an inspiration to many generations of readers. 

Two-time Caldecott-winning illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon have illustrated over 25 books for children, and have received many honors, including two Coretta Scott King Awards and the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. They live in Brooklyn, NY.

Read an Excerpt

By Myself

When I'm by myself
And I close my eyes
I'm a twin
I'm a dimple in a chin
I'm a room full of toys
I'm a squeaky noise
I'm a gospel song
I'm a gong
I'm a leaf turning red
I'm a loaf of brown bread
I'm a whatever I want to be
An anything I care to be
And when I open my eyes
What I care to be
Is me

Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems. Copyright © by Eloise Greenfield. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Editorial Reviews

"Abounds with that special tenderness surrounding the everyday experiences in a child's life. These poems beg to be read aloud." — The Boston Globe

"Children will find many of their own feelings and experiences reflected in this marvelous collection." — Y.C.

"[Touches] the important aspects of a child's life, the people and things [a child] loves and laughs, cries, or wonders about . . . Fully imagined graphics [by the winners of the 1976 and 1977 Caldecott Medals]." — B.L.

From the Publisher

"Abounds with that special tenderness surrounding the everyday experiences in a child's life. These poems beg to be read aloud."

The Boston Globe

"[Touches] the important aspects of a child's life, the people and things [a child] loves and laughs, cries, or wonders about . . . Fully imagined graphics [by the winners of the 1976 and 1977 Caldecott Medals]."

B.L.

"Children will find many of their own feelings and experiences reflected in this marvelous collection."

Y.C.

Abounds with that special tenderness surrounding the everyday experiences in a child's life. These poems beg to be read aloud.

Boston Globe

PreS-Gr 1-Honey, I Love, the title poem from Greenfield's popular 1978 collection (HarperCollins), and On My Horse, a new poem, are filled with full-color illustrations featuring African Americans. The two simple stories describe a young girl's favorite summer activities and a boy's riding fantasy as he is led around on a gentle horse. The verses are simple, with flowing language and limited rhyme and repetition. Gilchrist's pictures fill the pages with large realistic portraits brimming with the warmth and pleasures of childhood. Their size and clarity make these books good candidates for toddler and preschool story hours as well as for one-on-one sharing.-Gale W. Sherman, Pocatello Public Library, ID

School Library Journal

Iffy art cramps this 25th-anniversary reissue of the joyful title poem from Greenfield’s first collection (1978), illustrated by the Dillons. As timeless as ever, the poem celebrates everything a child loves, from kissing Mama’s warm, soft arm to listening to a cousin from the South, " ’cause every word he says / just kind of slides out of his mouth." "I love a lot of things / a whole lot of things," the narrator concludes, "And honey, / I love ME, too." The African-American child in the pictures sports an updated hairstyle and a big, infectious grin—but even younger viewers will notice that the spray of cool water that supposedly "stings my stomach" isn’t aimed there, and that a comforter on the child’s bed changes patterns between pages. More problematic, though, is a dropped doll that suddenly acquires a horrified expression that makes it look disturbingly like a live baby, and the cutesy winged fairy that hovers over the sleeping child in the final scene. The poem deserves better. (Picture book/poetry. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews