Ways to Grow Love

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Ways to Grow Love) through Raincoast Books.

Renee Watson has written a story about girls learning how to show love to each other in Ways to Grow Love. Ryan Heart is a young lady in a faith-based home struggling to make good decisions as she is maturing.  I found this a sweet story that rang true.   Come….. let’s learn more shall we? 

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The Details for Ways to Grow Love

Ryan Hart is back again in Ways To Grow Love.  Renee Watson is a Newbery Hoor and Coretta Scott King Award winning author.   Her first Ryan Hart book was Ways to Grow Sunshine.   Bloomsbury Press is the publisher of this 192 page easy to read book for elementary children.  Short chapters interspersed with illustrations by Nina Mata. 

Children 7-10 years will find this an easy read with situations they can easily relate to.  I am reviewing an advanced readers copy for Raincoast books. 

Ryan is a middle school girl who is having friendship problems and is adjusting to a new family member on the way.  In this sweet story we get to walk with Ryan through church camp, skits, scarey moments, bad decisions, and learning new skills.  Can she navigate it all with the help of her family? 

Even though this book is part of a series it stands quite nicely on it’s own.  The sentences suit elementary students perfectly and the tone was warm and friendly, just like a kid telling a story to his folks.  

The characters are fairly well developed, Ryan sounds like a nice child and her friends have their own personalities.  It was good to watch the development of the girls as the story progressed. 

Should you get Ways to Grow Love?

I tend to think that girls will like this book more than most boys due to the subject matter.   It was well-written and I enjoyed the read. If I had a girl-child in this age range I wouldn’t hesitate to pick Ways to Grow Love for her.  It would be a good book to gift for a birthday party, or to add to a church library.   Even though the story is faith-based, I didn’t noticed any obvious signs of faith in their day to day life.  No prayers before meals, no calling upon God to help in challenging situations, yet…. the girls put on a skit based on the bible and learned from the bible story and let it affect their lives.  Wise choices made.   Get it for your elementary girls! 🙂