LOVE AND KISSES

Small, sweet, and silly, Wilson’s book exhorts readers to “Blow a kiss and let it go. / You never know how love will grow.” A little girl in a red dress and black tights kisses her ginger cat. The cat kisses a cow, who kisses a goose, who kisses a fish, etc., with the kisses leaving a trail of candy-colored hearts, nicely done in watercolor and collage, from beast to beast. The trail of kisses eventually returns to the girl via the cat: “Kisses! Kisses! Smooch and SMACK!/You’ll have your love and kisses back!” It’s a cute, distant cousin to the classic A Kiss for Little Bear from the Minarik/Sendak team and Elizabeth Winthrop’s Sloppy Kisses. (Picture book. 4-8)