Last week we received an advance copy of I Love You More from Sourcebooks, Inc. This is a sweet children’s book with a unique concept: If you read it from the front, you get a mother’s story of how much she loves her son; flip it and read from the other side, and you hear of the son’s love for his mother; the two stories meet in the middle.

This is one of those books that will get you all choked up, causing your children to look at you strangely and smile when you read it. I enjoyed the contrast between the mother’s descriptions of love – “I love you longer than the longest path ever wound” – and the son’s – “I love you bigger than the biggest bubble ever blown.” This is a “snuggle up and love on your child” kind of a book, and you can never have too many of those.

Here is the story behind this special book:

I Love You More is the product of Laura Duksta’s incredible personal journey in taking her biggest challenge and turning it into her biggest blessing. At the age of 11, she lost all of her hair to alopecia areata. After 19 years of wearing wigs and pretending to be someone she wasn’t, Laura made a decision on her 30th birthday to throw a coming out party as “The Bald Chick” and never looked back. While it took her many years to love herself and to allow others to love her, the lessons she learned along the way are as heartwarming as they are inspiring.

As a testament to the power of love, I Love You More, originally self published in 2001, sold over 180,000 copies before it even hit a bookstore!

ABOUT THE CREATORS OF I LOVE YOU MORE

Author Laura Duksta believes that when people know they are loved, anything is possible. Her mission is to share her story so that others might see that no matter what challenges they are facing, anything is possible with love. She is now fulfilling this mission through her book, school programs and inspirational talks.

Illustrator Karen Keesler earned the nickname “Hippie” from her love for people and the planet. Upon hearing about Laura’s book, Karen took a bag of pastel chalks that she bought at a yard sale for 50 cents and drew the perfect pictures for the text. Together they become known as the author and illustrator dynamic duo, Hippie and The Bald Chick.