While What’s Love All About, Minimoni?, written and illustrated by Rocio Bonilla, is a bit idealistic, it is also cute. When a young girl asks about what love is, she has a mature journey to finding it. What she learns is what many adults do not even realize: Love is a little bit of everything that is good. And she can imagine sharing that with the world.
As I said, it is a bit idealistic, but it does have some silly moments, too. This means I like it, but it is not in my Top 10 favorite reads. It is that read that I remember when I need a gift for someone I am not completely familiar with. Or it is for the grandparent looking for a friendly and safe book for a younger child. It is a nice and cozy read. It is a vessel that is a way to tell people it is good to know that many little things and many big things make up love. It is the hugs, kisses, caring and the understanding of things.
And this is all told in easy to understand language and mediumly colored and detailed images. The images are what make this book for me as an adult reader, I know the story, I know the themes. But the goofy images make this fresh. Yes, there are a few little “hidden gems” that I would probably be one of the few people who would have noticed them (and um…yes, I did look for one of them…. Hey! When you have a tree and a dog…well you know what is going to happen….) and are not really needed, but not gratuitous. The ones that are clever are the ones that give a nod to popular things (a particular toy in our gals room, the movie she is watching). Things just work out in the end, be it the answer to the question or the overall package.
Read via an online reader, this book is due late April 2025.