Book Reflection: You’re All My Favourites

You’re All My Favourites, by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram.

You may remember Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram from the classic 1994 picture book, Guess How Much I Love You (which is available in three thousand different iterations), or, as I know it best, Weißt du eigentlich, wie lieb ich dich hab? I read the book in German before I found a copy in English, and I’ve read the German version a few times but I’ve only read the English version once.

You’re All My Favourites, however, I have only read in English. Quite frankly I think I’d like it better if it was in German. It’s a nice enough book with a nice enough story (such as it is), and I’m sure there are kids out there who regard it as one of their favourites. I just thought it was lacking some of the pizzazz of the book with the hares. It’s not as playful.

There’s a nuclear family with a mother, father and three baby bears. The three siblings all wonder whether or not their parents like the other kids better than them – maybe the other two are the “favourites”? And, of course, by the end of the book, their parents reassure them that they are all their favourites. It’s a nice little book with a nice little message, and parents will no doubt jump at the chance to have a picture book that explicitly reassures small children that their parents don’t have a favourite (which is, of course, not at all true – although the same kid isn’t always the favourite kid).

And therein lies the rub, I think. I feel like this book was written specifically to give a message. Like those books that are designed to teach kids that pooping is perfectly natural (I still wonder why we need so many of those), or that blended families are “okay”. It’s not really a story, per se. That’s probably why it’s not as charming as Guess How Much I Love You, which had a lovely little story.

Also, don’t give this book to a kid who actually knows anything about bears. That whole nuclear family scenario is completely inaccurate for the species. It’s not unheard of for a bear to have three cubs, but two is more common, and the father certainly doesn’t stick around to help raise the kids. In fact, there’s an excellent chance he will try to kill them if he sees them, so it’s probably best if he’s out of the picture.