Wherever You Are

July 19, 2010
As a child frolics in a magical version of the natural world, the narrator coos her enduring parental love: "I wanted you more/ than you ever will know,/so I sent love to follow/ wherever I go." The child, of neutral ethnicity and indeterminate gender (thanks to an orange bucket hat and compositions that always show him or her in profile or from behind) is one lucky kid: there's a piggyback ride on a hippo, apple-picking with the help of an albino giraffe, a park bench chat with pandas, and a snooze that literally entails lying down with the lambs. Tillman's (On the Night You Were Born) digital artwork teeters of the edge of saccharine, and she's too fond of dancing blobs of lights. But she has an unerring instinct for dramatic composition—in these pages, readers get the sense of spying on a secret world—and her potent combination of unapologetic sentiment, fantasy, photorealism, and painterliness has an undeniable allure. As with her other books, the real
audience is probably grownups looking for a misty-eyed interlude. Ages 4–8.

August 15, 2010
Parents and grandparents with a sweet tooth will likely lap up the latest in Tillman's string of sentimental favorites. Couched in a series of breathless phrases and exhortations, the (presumably) parent's adoration of the child is expressed ad nauseum, accompanied by a series of slightly surreal illustrations. A swirl of white stars represents the parent's love. The child, whose face is always shrouded or turned away, is accompanied in each illustration by one or more animals pictured in photorealistic detail. The contrast with the softer, generally pastoral backgrounds is surprisingly pleasing if utterly inexplicable. Young listeners may wonder just why the child is frolicking in the water with a pair of hippos or playing in the surf with two small purple pachyderms, but the paintings are probably pretty enough to distract them. The text, unfortunately, has no such saving grace, and the abstract descriptions will do little to capture young listeners' attention. If parents want their children to feel loved, a better bet would be to find a book they'll both enjoy and share it together. (Picture book. 4-7)

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September 15, 2010
Preschool-G Tillmans self-described mission to let children know that they are loved is well manifested here. Formulaically similar in format and tone to On the Night You Were Born (2006) and Eric Metaxas Its Time to Sleep, My Love (2008), which Tillman illustrated, this picture book presents a heartfelt, greeting cardworthy rhyme matched with fanciful mixed-media images of a child who cavorts across brilliantly hued landscapes and is joined by wild animals, from peacocks to pandas, along the way. On every spread, the speaker promises undying adoration and support: My love is so high, and so wide and so deep, its always right there, even when youre asleep. The line between sweetness and schmaltz is subjective, and some may slot this offering into the latter camp. But the appeal of a title such as this that encourages an adult and child to snuggle affectionately together with a book is undeniable and may make this just the balm the doctor (or librarian) ordered.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)