How Far Do You Love Me?

How Far Do You Love Me?

by Lulu Delacre

Stemming from a game the author used to play with her daughters, the book takes us on a journey around the world answering the question, "How far do you love me?"

From glaciers of Antarctica to the Grand Canyon, Kangaroo Island in South Australia to Machu Picchu, the lavender fields of Provence to Mekong river in Vietnam, Ladakh in India to Sinai Peninsula we are treated to breath-taking visuals of the beauty of the world around us, and even beyond our planet, while answering the question in the title.

Books by author-illustrators have that perfect connection between visuals and text. The double-page spread of soft pastels of the grand places on earth combined with simple text makes this a wonderful bedtime read. 

Most pictures show an adult and child, presumably parent/child, in the various places, affirming the reader that children all over the world are loved and cared for. 

On the last double-page spread, the title question is translated in various languages of the places visited and possibly yet to be visited. I was particularly thrilled to find Tamil script on this spread that closely translates the meaning of the title question to How much do you love me. Tamil and Hindi were featured, among other languages, which made me smile widely - two languages I grew up with, one of which happens to be my mother-tongue. 

There is a map of the world pinpointing the places presented in the book - a huge plus for my kids who want to know precisely where every place is on the face of the earth (or underwater or in outer space). 

As shared in BookTalk, the author has been to all of the places showcased in the book, except Antarctica, which she just missed by chance.

The part that irked me initially was that, unlike Guess How Much I Love You where the underlying force was "I Love You" and "I Love You A Lot", the question in this book almost seems like a demand for attention, asking "Do you love me? How far do you love me?". But, in the context of a child asking his/her parent this very real question, much like Mama Do You Love Me, it stretches the boundaries of conventional limitations of expression.

[image source: Lee and Low Books]

Disclosure: The book was a review copy but the decision to share it here was my own.