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! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
I love how Hank has a change of ♥️. After hoarding so many, he realizes he can share and brighten someone else’s day. We can all use this important lesson. It is so simple and relatable. Congratulations!🩷
It’s a super cute book, Robin. And a good message for kids about the joy of giving and sharing 🙂
I LOVE collecting heart-shaped stones, but I also love giving them away 🙂 This is such a great idea to spread the joy of sharing.
Me, too, Jodie! I love heart-shaped stones. And both my dogs have heart-shaped spots on their tummies 🙂
I love hearts, too. And, would love to get this for my grandkids, ages 3-7, who are still learning to share. And, I love the added resources. I heart hearts, lol.
I know, Barb! Aren’t the resources great? I’m hoping you can click on them and save them to print. And I think your grandkids would enjoy the book!
I need to up my game! I only collect rocks! Have fun at Beckmann!
I collect $%^$@ – which is the source of my clutter problem 🤣 And thanks – I hope we’ll have a good day. It’s always fun to get together with author friends!
Oops! I forgot, I collect $%^$@ too! 😜
Awe! That’s so cute! What a clever way to teach kids to share.
It’s very cute, Lisa! 🙂
I love this message and I’ve seen this book before but wasn’t able to order it from my library. 😡 I’ll have to see if they will order it! Thanks for sharing the fun resources.
I hope your library will get it, Laura! And I agree – the resources are great! Thank Cindy! 🙂
This looks adorable! I can’t wait to read it! Congratulations, Cindy!
It’s super cute, Angie, with such a nice message. I bet you’ve got some littles around who would enjoy it 🙂
You bet I do!
I love hearts too…have always been attracted to anything with hearts. Although it’s ok to keep something “close to your heart”, it’s also fun to share them with someone who needs a smile or a lift to their day.
So true, Julie! And especially when you have an abundance, it’s nice to share with someone who has none!
What a beautiful story! Congrats Cindy!
It’s really a nice one, Deborah!
Such a wonderful book, Cindy! Congratulations again!
It’s such a cute one, isn’t it, Kim? Cindy did a great job with it!
This is so cute. My 7 year old has the opposite problem of giving all his “hearts” away. I have to encourage him to keep some for himself. ❤️Love the art too!! Congratulations. Can’t wait to read it with my kiddos.
Aw! He sounds like a very generous little soul, Katelyn! But you’re right – it’s important not to give too much of yourself away either. Maybe you can write THAT book! 🙂
Such a sweet story! Getting it right now for my grandkids for Valentine’s ❤️ Thanks for sharing it with us and its talented writer Cindy!
That’s so sweet of you, Elyssa! I know Cindy will be delighted! 🙂
Oooh, a heart hoarder! I love this. And so perfect as we approach Valentine’s Day. This makes me think of King Lear, oddly enough, where love for his daughters was measured in monetary terms. And that he held a finite amount of love that would be split into smaller and smaller pieces if shared. And then I think of the opposite view: sharing multiplies the love because it grows in the sharing.
It wouldn’t be very nice to be like King Lear, Jilanne. What a sad way to look at love. I prefer to think the opposite way – that the heart has an infinite capacity to love and, as you said, the more you share it, the more it grows.
Aw, this sounds like such a cute story, with an important understanding at its heart. Can’t believe I haven’t read it yet! And it’s a perfect start to your Valentiny season…
It’s very cute, Sue, and very nicely done! Cindy did a lovely job of writing a fun story that gets the message across without hammering you over the hear with it 🙂
How many of us have been guilty of tucking candy or art supplies away? The change of heart story is one to which adult readers can even benefit! This warm story can lead to a life lesson discussion.
Both excellent books – Hank just in time for Valentine’s Day!
What an adorable story – with all the sweet lessons for little ones of kindness. Not only perfect for a Valentine’s Day story .. but anytime to reinforce the importance of “giving.” ❤️
Congrats Cindy on a really sweet and creative book. Definitely a book for the whole year.
Oh, absolutely, Maria! I didn’t mean to suggest it was only for Valentine’s Day, because it really isn’t a Valentine’s Day book – it’s more Valentine-adjacent!
Oh! The little collector in me wants to find this book. Didn’t we all have some kind of collection when we were kids? I had a box for pretty rocks, a folder of postcards my grandmother sent from Germany, and so many more things. I have to admit that the little collector in me is still going strong. Thank you for sharing this lovely book.
I know, right, Leslie?! I had a collection of little glass animals, a collection of those little koala bears where you could squeeze their shoulders and their arms would open so you could clip them onto things, Wacky Packs, and stickers! And, most importantly, Breyer horses!
I love this book. It’s so sweet and speaks to children in such a wonderful way.
I heartily agree, Deb! (see what I did there? 🤣
Looking forward to reading this precious PB!
I hope you like it, Susan! It’s a nice one!