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Love You When You Whine

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Have you ever known a child who doesn’t occasionally whine? Or hit, or forget to say please, or refuse to share, or interrupt, or throw a tantrum, or ask for every toy in the store? We may like to pretend otherwise, but these are things small children do . . . and we continue to love them even when they misbehave.
 
This amusing catalog of bad behaviors is playfully illustrated in warm watercolors. Together, text and art present funny and familiar scenes that grownups and children everywhere will recognize and want to talk about.  Love You When You Whine is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2006

27 people want to read

About the author

Emily Jenkins

104 books166 followers
Emily Jenkins is the author of many books for children, including the recent picture books Tiger and Badger, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay, and Princessland, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. Her chapter books include the Toys series, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky; she is co-author of the Upside-down Magic series. Emily Jenkins lives in New York City.

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Community Reviews

5 stars
12 (15%)
4 stars
19 (25%)
3 stars
26 (34%)
2 stars
14 (18%)
1 star
5 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Kaethe.
6,572 reviews531 followers
July 17, 2022
Jenkins has a fresh take on children that I love. This is great for kids and parents to be reminded of, since we are all guilty of a fair few of these less than charming attributes. Refreshingly unsentimental.

Library copy
Profile Image for Alyson Kent.
Author 4 books34 followers
February 14, 2019
Read for Valentine’s Day storytime. Really cute book.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
13.1k reviews483 followers
June 6, 2019
Unrelenting. Long list of absolutely atrocious behaviors with a very brief happy ending. Ugly pictures. I'm worn out just reading it, and my kids are old enough to give me grandchildren (after reading this, I'm sorta glad they haven't!). Kids might laugh, and might feel good about themselves for not being as bad as this child.
Profile Image for Viviane Elbee.
Author 4 books60 followers
Read
November 29, 2022
This book has a monster parent tell their little monster child that they love them - even though the monster child spends its time doing things like whining, making messes, destroying things and being rude. (To be fair, I am not sure if the main character is supposed to be a monster or a cat of some sort.)
Profile Image for SB.
47 reviews
January 20, 2022
This has always been a family favorite in my family and a good reminder to kids that their parents love them even when they are whiney or even when they are bad that their parents still love them.
Profile Image for Amber.
434 reviews15 followers
November 17, 2022
A book that reassures kiddos that even when they are being so overwhelmingly toddlery and whining and testing limits and boundaries that their family will love them unconditionally.
Profile Image for Shannon.
8 reviews1 follower
November 15, 2012
I thought this was a wonderful book, as did my kids. I believe we read it every night at bedtime for the two weeks we had it on loan from the library. It was amazing to see the lightbulbs come on in their little minds when we got to the page "I love you even when you say that you don't love me." The message of the story was not lost on them in any way. I will absolutely be adding this to our home library!
Profile Image for Kelly.
1,094 reviews8 followers
December 24, 2012
I was hoping there would be some redeeming quality or good message but all it really did was lay out a bunch of suggestions for how your kid could be bratty in different ways. The moral of the story is that the parent always loves the kid, but the message was really more for the parent than the kid, I think. My pet peeve is books written for children that don't teach good behavior, and this one falls into that category.
Profile Image for Meghan.
247 reviews
February 9, 2009
I didn't like this one as it seemed to emphasize all types of bad behavior, but offered no counterpoint. I get the basic premise, but think the end result would probably give kids new ways to misbehave!
Profile Image for Randie D. Camp, M.S..
1,197 reviews
October 3, 2011
A mother expresses her unconditional love to her sometimes whiny, irritating, loud, tantrum-throwing, mess-making child.

A book everyone can relate to. Illustrations are somewhat creepy, but the text more than makes up for it.
Profile Image for Kristina Silverbears.
Author 1 book1 follower
April 18, 2014
While I appreciate the sentiment I couldn't like this book. It doesn't feel like a story, and I worry that my children might one day try some of the naughty behaviors because they saw it here. We will not read it again.
713 reviews10 followers
August 7, 2014
This book is intended for younger children. It reassures them that they are loved even when they misbehave. Appropriately, the unruly child is depicted as a little monster. Minimal text on each page, and most of the meaning is derived from the detailed pictures.
Profile Image for Lucia.
503 reviews14 followers
April 11, 2008
This book was obviously written for adults to enjoy and actually not read to their children. Kids wouldn't get it, as they are typically the whiners. Great illustrations of a very disgruntled momma.
717 reviews4 followers
June 13, 2014
The sentiment is wonderful, but I wouldn't read this to my child or my keys may get buried in the backyard.
Profile Image for Victoria.
233 reviews4 followers
December 3, 2016
Adorable book reminding kids you truly love then no matter what. Big hit with my 3&4 year old.
Profile Image for Samantha.
915 reviews32 followers
February 11, 2016
Such a cute book that is about all the bad things kids do and how much we love them regardless.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews

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