Image of the Week: Love Is
© D. Yael Bernhard
With Valentine's Day just three weeks away, I thought I'd shine a spotlight on my unique greeting card booklet, Love Is. This little picture book features a rhyming poem about love in its most ordinary forms, which I wrote years ago and decided to illustrate. It's intended for all ages – what might be called a "crossover" book. The poem begins:
Love is a verb, love is a noun;
Love is a word that spreads it around.
. . . and goes on from there.
This is my first and only self-published book – simply because I could not find a publisher who would consider a crossover book, much less one that is also a greeting card. American publishers are reluctant to step outside rigid marketing categories.
But love itself crosses boundaries of all kinds, and reaches people of all ages.
The illustrations are simple drawings done with a restricted palette and white backgrounds – partly to save time, and partly because I wasn't paid to create this book – on the contrary, I paid for the printing out of my own pocket.
I often give Love Is away as a gift!
The poem was originally inspired by a common Hebrew blessing and prayer called Ahava Rabbah, which means "boundless love." Ahava Rabbah envisions the love of God as that of a parent, which manifests primarily as compassion and teaching – specifically, the teachings of the Torah, or Hebrew Bible, that have sustained the Jewish people for over three millennia and nourished the roots of many cultures, including our own American democracy. Ahava Rabbah is a prayer for learning, for discernment and understanding, and gives thanks for the divine laws that guide us in life.
It might seem odd to express the idea of divine love in such ordinary, mundane ways. But to me it makes perfect sense. In his book God in Search of Man, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel – who was a personal friend of Martin Luther King – articulates his concept of a personal God who seeks connection to humans as partners in Creation, forging a world filled with justice and compassion. I tried to picture everyday acts of justice and compassion that children can relate to – and came up with 32 storytelling images that make up the contents of the book.
LOVE IS measures just 7"x 5", and comes with a greeting card envelope. It can be mailed in the continental U.S. with just two first class stamps.
You can order a signed copy of Love Is from my web store for just $9.95 including shipping. If you would like it sent directly to someone you love, please indicate in your order to whom and from whom you would like it inscribed. Otherwise, I'll mail it to you with an envelope so you can send it yourself – or keep it as a reminder of the love that manifests in our everyday lives in so many ways.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard