I was lucky enough to attend my niece Shanon’s wonderful wedding this past weekend in Marquette, Mich., and the beautiful couple chose this fantastic children’s book called “I Like You” by Sandol Stoddard Warburg. I thought it was perfect, and having never heard it before, I was excited to share it with the readers of my column. Please enjoy as I did.

“I Like You”

I like you and I know why.

I like you because you are a good person to like.

I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special

And you remember it a long, long time.

You say, Remember when you told me something special

And both of us remember

When I think something is important

you think it’s important too

We have good ideas

When I say something funny, you laugh

I think I’m funny and you think I’m funny too

Hah-hah!

I like you because you know where I’m ticklish

And you don’t tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes

But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too

You know how to be silly

That’s why I like you

Boy are you ever silly

I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you

I like you because you know when it’s time to stop being silly

Maybe day after tomorrow

Maybe never

Too late, it’s a quarter past silly

Sometimes we don’t say a word

We snurkle under fences

We spy secret places

If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off

You are one too

If I pretend I am drowning, you pretend you are saving me

If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,

then you are getting ready to jump

HOORAY

That’s because you really like me

You really like me, don’t you

And I really like you back

And you like me back and I like you back

And that’s the way we keep on going every day

If you go away, then I go away too

or if I stay home, you send me a postcard

You don’t just say Well see you around sometime, bye

I like you a lot because of that

If I go away, I send you a postcard too

And I like you because if we go away together

And if we are in Grand Central Station

And if I get lost

Then you are the one that is yelling for me

And I like you because when I am feeling sad

You don’t always cheer me up right away

Sometimes it is better to be sad

You can’t stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute

You want to think about things

It takes time

I like you because if I am mad at you

Then you are mad at me too

It’s awful when the other person isn’t

They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose

I like you because if I think I am going to throw up

then you are really sorry

You don’t just pretend you are busy looking at the birdies and all that

You say, maybe it was something you ate

You say, the same thing happened to me one time

And the same thing did

If you find two four-leaf clovers, you give me one

If I find four, I give you two

If we only find three, we keep on looking

Sometimes we have good luck, and sometimes we don’t

If I break my arm, and if you break your arm too

Then it’s fun to have a broken arm

I tell you about mine, you tell me about yours

We are both sorry

We write our names and draw pictures

We show everybody and they wish they had a broken arm too

I like you because I don’t know why but

Everything that happens is nicer with you

I can’t remember when I didn’t like you

It must have been lonesome then

I like you because because because

I forget why I like you but I do

So many reasons

On the Fourth of July I like you because it’s the Fourth of July

On the fifth of July, I like you too

If you and I had some drums and some horns and some horses

If we had some hats and some flags and some fire engines

We could be a HOLIDAY

We could be a CELEBRATION

We could be a WHOLE PARADE

See what I mean?

Even if it was the 999th of July

Even if it was August

Even if it was way down at the bottom of November

Even if it was no place particular in January

I would go on choosing you

And you would go on choosing me

Over and over again

That’s how it would happen every time

I don’t know why

I guess I don’t know why I really like you

Why do I like you

I guess I just like you

I guess I just like you because I like you.

Isn’t that great! Congratulations Shanon and Jermey and, yes, spellchecker, that is how you spell the names!

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.