Here is a book of silly rhymes for the preschool set – and who loves silly rhymes more than this age group?

Writer and illustrator Andrea Wayne von Königslöw’s earlier books, Toilet Tales and That’s My Baby?, explored key moments in the young child’s life – toilet training and the arrival of a new baby. In Would You Love Me? she tackles another core issue: love. In the book, a parent asks a number of questions to see if the child would love an animal that is doing something realistic (for example, a rooster that wakes people up) or even something zany (such as a piggy that ate the last peach). The child character answers yes with a whimsical rhyme (“I’d take him dancing with me on the beach”). The parent’s unspoken question (and the title of the book) – would you love me? – is answered on the last page: “And I love you too!”

The text is fun to read and to hear, and many of the actions (“I’d tickle his belly,” for one) can be acted out for extra giggles. Parents and kids will no doubt be inspired to make up even more nonsensical rhymes together.

The watercolour and ink illustrations are bright, engaging, and full of movement – the richest of this artist’s published work so far.

Young children will love the raccoon dining on the front lawn, the dancing pig, and the splishiest, splashiest whale. The painting of a girl and her teddy bear flying with a parrot through the night sky is especially magical. But what makes this book worth noticing is that it is interactive – parents and child are both drawn in. When the child says, “Read it again!” the parent will be willing to oblige.