I LOVE YOU AS BIG AS THE WORLD

“I love you as big as the world. / I love you as deep as the sea. / I love you as bright as the sun. / I love you. / And I know you love me!” Parent bear and child bear roll in the grass, walk in the wind, stare at the stars and cuddle. Though big bear points to little bear on the title page, it’s never clear who’s speaking, but it doesn’t matter. The claim of big love ends with: “I love you because . . . / . . . you are you!” Van Buren’s first is a simple text which, although stumbling a bit in the scansion, is every bit as sweet as any in the guess-how-much-I-love-you genre. What makes this one stand out from the teeming crowd is the art. Warnes’s watercolor-and-charcoal illustrations depict the expressive bears in a range of natural settings. The package is far from unique, but it would be a good gift for a cuddle-bear who’s somehow missed all the others. (Picture book. 2-5)