I Tell You That I Love You

“I tell you that I love you and you say, ‘I love you, too.’/ You speak it so strongly I know that it’s true,” begin the short, singsong lines of this picture book set firmly in the natural world. As a caretaker and child, portrayed with pale skin and wearing wreathed flowers, meander through a sweeping landscape, the younger muses on various lessons taught by the older, including those of empowerment and self-love. A member of the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, Winder employs affirming, frequently comparative messages via rigorous rhyme (“A relative’s love is sacred, like the thunder and rains/ that feed Mother Earth, from her mountains to her plains”), while scribbly-styled illustrations from Dominguez follow the two characters out-of-doors, frequently flanked by animals, from daylight to sunset. Ages 4–8. (Dec.)