I Will Still Love You: Promoting Secure Attachment Through Greater Understanding of Unconditional Love, written by Delicia Mclean and illustrated by Mauro Lirussi, is a children's picture book that is intended as a building block. The book begins with a mother and child who are sitting together in what is a genuine picture of love when the child begins to ask questions about what love is, and how children might lose the love of their mother. Written in a lyrical, sing-song narrative, the child's mother responds to each question affirming her love and the fact that it cannot ever be lost.

The illustrations by Mauro Lirussi drew me to I Will Still Love You as the artwork is so striking that I was certain it would be worth reading. What a surprise it was to find that Delicia McLean is also an artist with her words. The illustrations are light with a palette that reflects a blend of free-hand sketches and an almost watercolor-like style. You know you have a winner when a small child lingers with a finger on the page to take every corner in. As for the message, how grateful I am to finally read a book to my daughter that reinforces the belief that there are no bad children, only expressions of emotion that aren't always appropriate - but none that will ever cost them a mother's love. This is a fantastic gem of a book that I am certain will resonate with children and their adult carers alike.

I Will Still Love You is a wonderful book that an adult can read together with a child. With the child’s dialog on the left side and an adult’s lines on the right, a child and a parent or teacher can take turns reading. I love interactive books that engage both the reader and the listener. The adult or narrator reassures a child they will love them forever even when they make mistakes. Author Delicia McLean is a sensitive and understanding writer: “We’re all just trying our very best, what’s important is what you meant.” I love the reassurance that no one is perfect and that when we fail it prepares us for the future. Parents and teachers will love the inspiration and incentive this book provides.

I Will Still Love You would make an excellent gift for new parents to read to their newborn child and parents could share the reading parts. Children will love the beautiful and stylized artwork by illustrator Mauro Lirussi. The colorful, full-page illustrations + wonderful prose + enduring message = classic book to be read and enjoyed for years to come. Children will enjoy the rhyming verse and wonderful examples that author Delicia McLean provides. Delicia McLean is a Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years of experience so she understands unconditional love and manages to put her expertise into words that children can understand. The words rhyme and are fun to recite. There are so many fabulous reminders that it doesn’t matter how you act; parents’ love will still be intact. There are so many enjoyable lines I could quote that I think every home, school, and public library should own this book.

I Will Still Love You: Promoting Secure Attachment Through Greater Understanding of Unconditional Love by Delicia Mclean has that important message about loving children unconditionally even if they are driving you nuts. The story centers on a mother and son meerkat, where the son begins a series of questions for his mother, beginning with why do people love, and why does his mother love him? His mother responds in sweet and simple words that feel reassuring in their rhythmic quality. As you turn the pages, the mother and child are illustrated in different moments and scenarios, where each time the child asks his mother about the nature of love in what-if questions. His mother, on the other hand, never ceases to give him satisfying answers that are filled with kindness, respect, and clear expectations.

Delicia Mclean’s wonderful little story will no doubt spark a discussion on unconditional love and a reassessment for parents on their relationship with their children. The young meerkat’s series of questions and his mother’s thoughtful answers are the core of the entire story that explores parents’ desire to raise their children without asking for anything in return. The shading quality of Mauro Lirussi’s illustrations has a strong direction and boundaries of shapes, making the images refreshing and the story even more heartwarming. In a time when many parents are subscribing to a merit-based style of parenting, I Will Still Love You will help us understand that unconditional love makes children less fearful and more well-rounded. As for children, this story encourages them to be the best that they can be for their own enjoyment and not for the purpose of proving themselves. I highly recommend this story to both parents and children, not only for its entertainment value but for the important life lesson that it imparts.

“Why do people love?” It seems like an innocent enough question, but the answer is never that simple. Or is it? “I love you simply because.” There you go. There is no reason to love, not really; we just do. But how big is love? And does it change over time? Can it disappear and never return? What if someone did something that made a person they loved angry? Would love still exist? Well, the air we breathe still exists, so why not love, too? “It’s like the air we breathe,/ It may be invisible, but it’s all around you.” Simple enough?

Delicia Mclean’s picture book story, I Will Still Love You: Promoting Secure Attachment Through Greater Understanding of Unconditional Love, is a sweet, compassionate look at the true power of never-ending love, a story that is directed at the very young reader, but will definitely appeal to the young at heart. Children are always full of questions and this lyrical, rhyming versed story uses the question/answer approach as a young meerkat asks multiple questions about love and the mother meerkat provides her sincere opinions and beliefs on the topic. Love is a difficult concept to explain, as the mother points out, but, on the other hand, it’s really quite simple because love just is. The illustrations are colorful and engaging and certainly help move the story along. Like Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever, this story will have a special place in the hearts of all who read it to their young and the young who listen intently.