I'll Always Hold Your Hand

Guido Van Genechten (1957, Belgium) studied drawing and painting, graphics and photography. Afterward, he worked for many years in the graphic industry. Now Guido works as a fulltime illustrator of children’s books. In 1998 he won the international Illustrator’s Award City of Hasselt with his picture book Ricky. This prize was the beginning of his international career as a children’s book illustrator. Since that moment, Guido Van Genechten has created many best-selling stories and received several awards. In 2007 he was the winner of the Reader’s Digest Award for Best Children’s Book Illustrator. And in the past ten years, his books were published in 30 countries around the world.

“PreS-K–As with Robert Munsch’s classic Love You Forever, this book’s message is perfectly summed up by its title. Plotless, the text consists of sincere, loving phrases from an invisible caretaker to a baby animal. The narrator—presumably the parent—promises to hold the baby’s hand, play peek-a-boo, and change their diaper. The animals have a pastel watercolor look. Thin black lines are used only to create mouths and closed eyes. Because the characters are not outlined, they look soft and cuddly. Like a human baby, they have giant heads and big eyes. In fact, the baby animals are treated as baby humans. They wear diapers and play with toys, and they are adorable, e.g., the baby cow has a stuffed cow toy tucked into bed with her. A baby human with white skin and a blue hair bow is depicted on the final page. On that page, the text sums up the book’s loving ideas and concludes with a last line echoing the title.” – School Library Journal"This is a very sweet picture book for toddlers. It's about making sure they know how much their parents care about them, in all sorts of ways. The illustrations are adorable little animals and young children will surely love them. Adorable sentiment and, even better, not entirely mind-numbing (for parents) read." - OLD MILL POND ELEMENTARY"This is a sweet, simple book about all a parent/guardian does for their little ones. Beautiful pictures and few words will hold a little one's attention." - Grant Public Library"I love this book and I think I would love to own it in board book format. The illustrations are adorable and bright, and the words are simple and easy to read. I think this would make an adorable first book for babies." - Lubbock Public Library