Once, I Was Loved by Belinda Landsberry - OPTIONAL

Once, I Was Loved by Belinda Landsberry. PICTURE BOOK. Exisle Publishing, 2019. $18. 9781925820027

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3)- OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

A charity box full of unwanted toys includes a rag doll, a sailboat, a robot and a stuffed bunny named Tock.  Tock is an adorable stuffed animal who is given to a young girl named Sam on her fifth birthday.  Tock and Sam shared many adventures together.  Sam eventually gives Tock to a young boy in a hospital who needs a toy to love.  “And because I loved her, I let Sam go.” says Tock.  And so begins the wonderful adventure of how Tock is given, dropped, left behind or slips into a swirling river as ownership changes.  Tock enjoys being loved by a boy who plays Cowboys and Indians, a child aspiring to be an astronaut, a “flower child,” a dinosaur, and a sailor.  Eventually she is put in a charity box to be given away.  A surprise character opens the charity box at the donation center and earlier feelings of being loved and loving others fills Tock’s heart once again.

We loved how this picture book came full circle in the end.  The illustrations are sweet and detailed.  The colors are soft and subtle.  The adventures Tock encounters will delight children of all ages. Different cultural and historical events are brought into this story: World War II, The Moon landing, the Hippie Movement and the birth of the Internet.

Reviewer: SL