And Here's to You! Book

Here’s to exuberant read-alouds! This picture book ode to joy invites us to celebrate the world’s vast diversity — and feel pretty happy with our place in it, too.

Here’s to the birds!
The Feather People!
Birds!

Here’s to the birds and the bears and the bugs! Here’s to the weird and wacky, the cute and creepy! From toothy fish to let-you-when-you’re-sleeping cats to lick-lick-lick-lick-lick-lick dogs, every creature is unique and lovable . . . especially you! The infectious joy of David Elliott’s wonderful read-aloud poem and Randy Cecil’s brilliant, amusing artwork is sure to have children reciting along.

Dr. Judy Rowen - Children's Literature

A celebration of diversity as expressed through a child's paean to different types of animals, this book has bright, cheerful full-page illustrations. From birds ("Here's to the who-o-o ones, the cock-a-doodle-doo ones, their breasts as red as fire ones, the sitting on the wire ones") to bugs (the "wing-y ones" and the "sting-y ones") to cows and people, different children sing the praises of their favorites. When the text moves to people, the verse is a little more awkward: "And here's to you! The You Person! You!" In the illustration, the people are just standing around in a wooded glade rather than demonstrating the attributes described ("Here's to the sweet you, the messy and the neat you, the funny-way-you-eat you"), so they are much less interesting than the other animals depicted earlier in the book. 2004, Candlewick, Ages 3 to 6.