Slugs in love? Call it a “slime-ance!” Marylou is too shy to tell Herbie how she loves everything about him so she writes him a love poem in slime on the watering can. “Strawberries are red. Blueberries are blue. Herbie is handsome. Love, Marylou.” Unsure of which slug is Marylou, Herbie writes back on the garden hoe to ask her, but the gardener puts the hoe away so she never sees his message. Missed messages left and right, but true love slugs onward. She writes a poem on the wheelbarrow; he puts a message on the fence. She writes a poem on the scarecrow; he puts a message on the watermelons. She writes a poem on a zucchini; he puts his message on the tomatoes. And finally, the match is made in the tomato patch. The humorous illustrations use markers, colored pencils and Photoshop to comically characterize the slugs with distinguishing accessories (pink antennae ribbons and blue baseball cap) and personalities. Kids’ reactions? Eeew—slugs, love, slime rhymes? Snail-mail fun that gives a new connotation to sliming someone. (Picture book. 4-8)
