Can words ever describe a father’s love? Zev Lewinson — a father himself — comes as close as is possible in Of Course I Love You!, a new book by SwordPen Publishers. Boasting a heartwarming narrative and vibrant illustrations, Of Course I Love You! transports readers to a lion’s den, outer space, and the world’s tallest mountain as young Adam’s father explains to his son the depth of his love — and that it cannot be explained.

“Why, if all the water in the world were ink, and all the skies were paper, and all the trees were pens, I still couldn’t describe how much I love you!” Adam’s father tells his son, as readers are treated to a breathtaking spread of a purple ocean of ink lined with fountain pen trees.

For added effect, Of Course I Love You! juxtaposes Adam’s father’s love for his son with some of young Adam’s fears; fueled by love, Adam’s father would save him from a burning building, wrestle alligators and pit bulls, and even brave a stampede of wildebeests. In fact, the story depicts love so imaginatively, so compellingly, that SwordPen recommends it not just for children, but also as an appropriate gift to a sibling, friend, or even spouse.

Books leave an endlessly lasting impression on young folks who are read to. I know that for me in spite of watching a lot of television and playing a fair amount of video games in my youth several of my favorite children’s books still reverberate in my memory. In fact when asked for a list of my favorite books fictional childrens books like Harold and the Purple Crayon, Oh! The Places You’ll Go, and Where The Wild Things Are classics one and all, still rate alongside more adult fair like High Fidelity and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

A good childrens book publisher like the folks at SwordPen know how to sew seeds into the minds of children that allow them to explore their intellect and imagination. Books like Don’t Get Stuck On Being A Duck and My Dog Ate It feel like timeless classics in the vein of the aforementioned favorites. They offer morals and imaginative premises, not to mention characters that are both fantastical and wholly relatable to young readers, or listeners.

In later years of parenting you will be struck by just how much of the reading you do with your children will be remembered. This is why it is so important to buy childrens books.

When you want to buy childrens books, one of the most important things to pay attention to is the illustrations. We all know that a picture can paint a thousand words, but the best childrens story books have words that can paint a thousand pictures too! SwordPen Publishers is the Rembrandt publishing house for kids! ‘Sharp stories for keen kids,’ is not just their tag line; it’s their culture. Along with razor sharp copy, their great illustrations anchor the imagination to the words in a story, clarifying and representing what the author had in mind. SwordPen Publishers chooses artists whose imaginations are as creative as their artistic talent.

Details may be painted with words, but when you show your child the illustration, it’s even more arresting. Great illustrations help a new reader to learn how to read. A vivid illustration helps a young child to imagine what the words are saying, literally and figuratively. Creative illustrations not only bring great joy to the new reader, but encourages her to “keep at it” as she learns to make sense out of those funny looking little shapes that Daddy verbalizes with such ease. In a world of so much flash and constant interruption, detailed art allows a child to relax and use her imagination. It gives them time to ponder. It allows them to relax their brain – and that is when creativity takes place.

Children always request to “see the pictures,” because they want to confirm the pictures their own imaginations produced. I never realized how true this is till I once took part in a simple but amazing experience. While reading to one of my children, she gently (almost unconsciously) moved my thumb over because it was covering just a tiny part of an illustration. It taught me just how important an illustration is to a young child. In short, great illustrations make for a more interactive story time. That’s why it’s so important to choose a childrens story book with quality illustrations; it’s a sign that the story is quality too. Quality illustrations make a good book great. And they make a great book awesome! That’s why it’s important to choose childrens book publishers that consider how well illustrations and words go together. SwordPen Publishers illustrations are a great example of awesome artwork. Their pictures literally tell the story. The words are woven throughout the illustrations. What they’ve accomplished is magical!

Some of my most cherished memories as a boy involve reading. I remember sitting at our kitchen table with my dad, as he taught me my ABCs. My ease and success made him pretend to faint with shock, and I happily tried to convince him to wake up so we could continue our lesson.

I remember him reading to me fiction childrens books before bedtime, and how my vision blurred as the sound of his voice carried me into darkness. We read a children story book every night before I went to bed, so that I came to look forward to bedtime. Sometimes the story ran past nine o’clock and dad treated me to the end as I listened in delight, thankful for being able to break the rules and stay up late, and to finish the story.

The fiction childrens books we read were entertaining and exciting; I was never too tired to read before bed. With their vibrant illustrations, I remember acting out the parts of some of the characters from last night’s reading while at school or talking to my mother. And today I still have my fiction childrens books, and I look forward to the day when I can read them to my own children, the same way my dad read them to me.

We’re amazed, as a small press, at the amount of query requests we receive. Many aspiring writers (and far too many childrens book publishers!) believe that by merely jotting down a few words on paper, a great children story book has been created.

They couldn’t be further from the truth! And so to spare ourselves any more pain, we are going to share some of the secret ingredients that go into producing great literature for kids!

1) A sense of humor! Not toilet and potty humor. Your kid is better than that. A sense of irony, fun, and surprise thrill children – of all ages!

2) A great plot. Children love real stories. Good old fashioned stories never went out of style. Kids still love them! And they always will. There is no genre for something that is timeless.

3) Painstaking editing. Yes! Even for a kids story, careful editing and rewriting is a must. At SwordPen Publishers, at least twelve pairs of eyes review every story – and often two or three times.

4) Great illustrations. Again, there are no shortcuts to producing great literature for kids. There are many who play the fantasy of “The Editors New Clothes,” when what they produce is truly naked of talent and creativity, as they proclaim it as “artsy.” Children are smarter and more honest than adults – and they refuse to call garbage dropped on a canvas “ART.” They love staring at a picture that has characters that show real emotion and character. They love detail.

5) Imagination. Children love fantasy. They love ‘just thinking’ about things. They daydream for a reason. Stories that allow them to imagine are stories that they will read again and again.

SwordPen Publishers prides itself by using the above ingredients (and many more wonderful tools of the literary trade) to concoct and spice up wonderful heirloom collections of great children’s books. Peter Elek Associates once described one of our favorite authors with the following accolade: “Your ideas are amusing and original. Your work is wonderful. You have a knack for ‘kid-appealing’ writing.” Compliments like that don’t come easy. They come to us, because SwordPen Publishers consists of a team of five-star (literary and artistic), world class chefs!

And that is why we can’t get out of the kitchen! We love creating “food for thought.” Our passion is to nourish the young minds of our future leaders with fiction childrens books. We sincerely believe that an adult is created by the time she is six. After that, it’s usually just more information that they acquire. But empathy, caring, self-confidence, positive outlook on life, etc… those have to be learned at a very early age. At SwordPen Publishers we enjoy teaching those lessons in a fun loving way!