Welcome to Perfect Picture Book Friday where it is a tropical 10 degrees this morning! Woo hoo! Double digits! But don’t get too excited because we have an “Extreme Cold Watch” for tomorrow, with predicted windchills of 20 to 30 degrees below zero so we will be right back to our popsicle status! 🥶 😊

But hopefully a cold day Saturday will make for a good crowd at the Beekman Library Children’s Literary Festival. Too cold to play outside? Come listen to stories, do fun activities, and drink hot chocolate inside! 😊

If my calendar attachment thingy was working (which it hasn’t been for like a year 🤣) I would have my events listed on the right hand side of my blog, but since it isn’t working I’ll just tell you Beekman Library is where I’ll be on Saturday along with a whole bunch of my talented friends! If you’re in the neighborhood, come say hi. It’s going to be fun!

Do you know what else is fun? Cindy Williams Schrauben, author of today’s Perfect Picture Book, is kindly offering a giveaway of a 30 minute AMA Zoom for one lucky winner! And all you have to do to put yourself in the running to eb the randomly selected winner of this fabulous opportunity is leave a comment on today’s post by Thursday February 12th at 3 PM Eastern! Of course, next Friday we will not be having PPBF because it will be THE VALENTINY CONTEST!!! (Have your written your entry yet? If not, don’t worry! You still have a week! Fuel up on some Valentine chocolate and get writing!) So I will announce the winner of Cindy’s giveaway in a couple weeks after Valentiny is over and we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming 😊

Now, ready for a Valentiny kind of Perfect Picture Book?

Title: Hank’s Change of Heart

Written By: Cindy Williams Schrauben

Illustrated By: Sasha Richards

Publisher: The Little Press, November 4, 2025, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 5-7

Themes/Topics: hobbies, kindness, friendship/love

text copyright Cindy Williams Schrauben 2025, illustration copyright Sasha Richards 2025, The Little Press

Opening:
“It was no secret.
Hank adored hearts.

He sang when
he made them.

He glowed when he wore them,

and danced as
he stashed them away.”

text copyright Cindy Williams Schrauben 2025, illustration copyright Sasha Richards 2025, The Little Press

Brief Synopsis: Hank is obsessed with hearts, and finds them everywhere – in animals, rocks, food and many other surprising places. His collection of hearts grows and grows. But he keeps it all to himself until a chance meeting helps him realize that hearts are not meant to be hoarded. They are made to be shared.

text copyright Cindy Williams Schrauben 2025, illustration copyright Sasha Richards 2025, The Little Press

Links To Resources: Coloring Page and Color by Number provided by author Cindy Schrauben! Link to Reader’s Guide HERE

text copyright Cindy Williams Schrauben 2025, illustration copyright Sasha Richards 2025, The Little Press

Why I Like This Book: This book is perfect for young readers who might have a hard time sharing. We all know what it’s like to have a passion for something, enjoy collecting it, and want to keep what we find for ourselves. How to share or give away something so precious?! Hank is a very relatable character. His quest for hearts is one any child who likes to collect things will understand and identify with. His desire to keep his hearts for himself will resonate. And his ultimate discovery that while something precious can bring you joy, the real joy is in sharing it with someone else, will hopefully encourage young readers to begin to see things that way, too. The text is very nicely written – well-expressed, not too long, and not heavy-handed with the message. The art is bright and colorful and filled with hearts for pre-readers to keep their eyes out for while listening to the story. A lovely addition to any shelf!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Author Cindy Williams Schrauben

And remember, your comment on today’s post by 3 PM Eastern Thursday February 12th puts you in the running to be the randomly selected winner of Cindy’s generous giveaway of a 30 minute Zoom AMA!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊