My Little Pony: A ­Magical Valentine’s Day

Gr 1-3–Izzy is ready for Hearts and Hooves Day, which is what Valentine’s Day is called in Equestria. She decides to celebrate with all the ponies in Maretime Bay but soon realizes that not every pony celebrates the day as enthusiastically as she does. Izzy is so ­focused on celebrating that she does not realize the mess she has made: cutting flowers, breaking benches, and even scaring some friends. She does notice that the other ponies are not happy. Zipp helps Izzy understand that love takes time, and that while joy is great, it’s important to notice everyone around you. West (The Addams Family: Wednesday’s ­Library) adapted the story from an episode of the My Little Pony animated series. She includes dialogue from key scenes and adds text to visual moments. Most of the images are stills from the show and coincide with the text to emphasize the most expressive moment. Colors from the series make the pages pop. While the vocabulary level and simple sentence structure keeps it at a Level 1 beginning reader, the amount of text is more advanced. This story shares the importance of celebrating with friends instead of for them, and of being mindful of personal impact.