Put Me In the Story: If I Could Keep You Little... Personalized Book

If i could keep you little, Emily...

Made Special For

Emily

Made Special By

Mom and Dad

Written and illustrated by

Marianne Richmond

If i could keep you little, Emily Made Special For

Emily

Made Special By

Mom and Dad

Written and illustrated by

Marianne Richmond

For Our Perfectly Sweet Girl, We wish we could keep you little forever!

Love, Mom and Dad

If I could keep you little,

Emily, I’d

hum you

lullab i e s .

But then I’d miss you

g i ng n i s

your concert’s

big

surprise.

I f I cou l d kee p you l i t tl e,

Emily,

I’d

hold your hand

everywhere.

But then I’d miss you

knowing,

“I can go…

you stay there.”

I f I cou l d ke e p you l i t tl e,

I’d

kiss

your cuts and

scrapes.

But then I’d miss you

learning from

your own

mistakes.

If I could keep you little,

Emily, I’d

strap

you in

real

tight.

But then I’d miss

swing ing

you from your

treetop

height.

If I could keep you little,

Emily,

I’d decide on

matching

clothes.

u But t o y s h e n I ’d m i s

and

choosin g

dots on top stripes below.

sh

ap .

I ’d

y t u

ead i nto r b r ou

es

c

If I could keep you little,

But then I’d miss you

“Hey! I like

finding,

ketchup with my grapes!”

If I could keep you little,

Emily,

I’d tell you stories every night.

But then I’d miss

you reading the words you’ve learned by sight.

I f I cou l d kee p you l i t tl e,

Emily,

I ’d pu sh you an

ywh

ere.

Bu t th en yo

u

I ’d

mi

fee s s lin g

your speed from

here

to

there!

, e l t t i l u o y p e e k d l If I cou o. w t r o d n e i r f a u o y I ’d p i c k f o r

But then I’d miss you finding friends you like

who like you, too!

If I could keep you little, we’d

finger-paint our art.

But then I’d miss you

creating

stories from

your

heart.

If I could keep you little,

Emily,

I’d push your

ducky float.

But then I’d miss you the

feeling

wind

behind summer’s boat.

If I could keep you little,

w e ’d

n a p in our fort midday.

But then I’d miss you sharing adventures from camp away.

with

If

fly y ou

Ic

ld u o

p e e k

t l e , I ’d t i l u yo

m

y

feet.

But then I’d miss you

seeing

sky and clouds from your seat.

If I could keep you little,

Emily, I’d keep you

close to me.

But then I’d miss you growing into

who you’re meant to be!

If i could keep you little…

Also available from author & illustrator Marianne Richmond:

is dedicated to my C, A, J, and W. I adored you little. And I am in awe of who you are becoming. —MR

Hooray for You!

The Gift of an Angel The Gift of a Memory The Gifts of Being Grand I Love You So… Dear Daughter Dear Son Dear Granddaughter

Text and illustrations copyright © 2010 Marianne Richmond www.mariannerichmond.com Cover and internal design © 2010 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. Put Me In the Story is a trademark of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Put Me In the Story, a publication of Sourcebooks, Inc. P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900 Fax: (630) 961-2168

Dear Grandson Dear Mom My Shoes Take Me Where I Want to Go Fish Kisses and Gorilla Hugs Happy Birthday to You! I Love You So Much…

You Are My Wish Come True Big Sister Big Brother If I Could Keep You Little The Night Night Book Beautiful Brown Eyes Beautiful Blue Eyes I Wished for You, an adoption story I Believe in You

First published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

Daddy Loves Me!

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher.

Grandpa Loves Me!

Source of Production: Lightning Source, Inc. 1246 Heil Quaker BLVD, La Vergne, TN 37086 Date of Production: MM

YYYY Run Number: 99999 Printed and bound in the United States of America.

LSI 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Mama Loves Me! Grandma Loves me!

Pink Wiggly Pig

Find more heartfelt books and beautiful gifts for all occasions at www.mariannerichmond.com

If I could keep you little, I’d keep you

close to me.

growing into who you’re meant to be!

But then I’d miss you