Where Does Love Hide? by Mary Manz Simon

Where Does Love Hide? by Mary Manz Simon Illustrated by Hannah Wood ISBN-13: 9781496411686 Board Book: 18 pages Publisher: Tyndale House Released: Jan. 1, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In Where Does Love Hide? children are reminded that they not only receive love but have the opportunity to share love. Looking under the fun, lift-a-flap feature, children will see examples of everyday love opportunities. Each page includes a memory verse and an example of a way to share God's love. Because love is an abstract concept and young children are concrete thinkers, they must gradually learn to understand love by what they experience.


My Review:
Where Does Love Hide? has 6 double-spread pages that each demonstrate a way for children to show love. Each page has "Where does love hide?" on one side and a flap for children to open on the other. Behind the flap is a picture that completes the scene. On the flap is text describing how to show love and a Bible verse relating to that action. (For example, "A friend is always a friend." Proverbs 17:17) The problem is that you'll lose much of the text if the flap (which is thin cardboard) gets ripped off.

So what are the ways to show love? Inviting a friend over to your house to play, helping Mom to put the groceries away, taking turns when playing with a toy at the park, sharing your cookies with others, helping a wheelchair-bound grandpa in the yard, and saying (or hearing) "I love you" at bedtime. The illustrations are stylized and simple (like the cover picture). They illustrate the text but don't go much beyond that.

Compared to the inviting and charming Lots of Love, this felt like a "because it's good for you" teaching tale. Probably because it's intended to be a teaching book. The flaps are a fun idea, but I really doubt they'll last and it's unfortunate that much of the text is on the flap.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.