LET ME CALL YOU SWEETHEART: A Confectionery of Affection by Mary Lee Donovan

​Review by Kelly Carey
 
Name calling is never advised unless the moniker assigned is a sweet term of adorable endearment. In Mary Lee Donovan’s Let Me Call You Sweetheart: A Confectionery of Affection, illustrated by Brizida Magro (Greenwillow Books, 2022) each page is filled with delicious slurp-worthy nicknames shared in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and Kadazan Dusun. It is not hard to imagine the giggles and smirks traded between a reader and listener as the often silly but devotedly loving names are listed in rhythmic, rhyming text illustrated with round-faced characters in charming scenes. Like conversation hearts traded on Valentine's Day, each flip of the page offers up a new way to let a little someone know how special they are to you. 

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On Writing:
Take a list of any like-themed words, in Donovan’s case she has chosen terms of endearment, add rhythm and beat, and you have a joyful picture book that begs to be reread. The finished book may seem simple, but on closer study the careful beat created by the writer’s hand is behind every sentence and rhyming couplet. Without that tapping cadence the words might be a mere list, but Donovan has arranged them to take full advantage of a joyful sing-song melody that claps along as the story is read. The addition of beat elevates the words and brings magic.

Pull out your rhyming text and consider whether it offers a foot tapping beat. Like a heartbeat keeping your story alive, make sure your text, like Donovan’s, has a healthy dose of cardio. 

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To learn more about author Mary Lee Donovan visit her here. For more about illustrator, Brizida Magro visit her here. To purchase a copy of Let Me Call You Sweetheart: A Confectionery of Affection go here.