When I'm with you

The previous cocreators celebrate friendship in all its forms with this affectionate greeting card--style paean. Companions of varying ability, body shape, skin tone, and species feature in spreads that loosely represent Miller's tender rhymes ("You'll be the key to my lock./ The right shoe for my sock"). Wheeler's absorbing multimedia artwork has an enchanted quality; characters ride insects, float in outer space, and serve treats in a rosy candy land. In one scene, the friends--outfitted in diving gear and mermaid fins--swim among jellyfish and seahorses in a fish tank ("You're the soap that scrubs my dish./ You're the flakes that feed my fish"). Suggesting that neither storms, mistakes, distance, nor age can come between besties, this reiterative tribute extols long-term fellowship. Ages 4--8. (Mar.)

The message here is clear: Life is better when shared with special people. Speaking directly to the reader in rhyming verses, the first-person narrator extols the enduring joys of friendship. Whether the friendship started "when we both were small" or "once we had a chance to grow," the narrator admits "I'm happier with you." Often, the narrator tickles the reader with amusing sweet nothings: "If one plus one makes two, / I'm the one who goes with you," and "You like pink, and I like blue. / I'll make lavender with you." Whether kindred spirits are playing together, enjoying quiet time, working side by side, or exploring the world with each other, the people who 'get us' make our lives that much happier. Even when friends grow up, change, and no longer live close by, the narrator promises to "find a way to keep you in my head and in my heart." Clever use of related object analogies--"You're the apple on my tree. / You're the honey to my bee" or "You're the hat that fits my head. / You're the hilltop for my sled"--creates a jaunty rhythm ideal for reading aloud. Busy, upbeat, mixed-media illustrations rendered in a cheerful pastel palette feature racially and gender diverse friends (including animal companions) engaged in both familiar activities and fantastical adventures, many of them taking place in nature. An exuberant yet earnest assemblage of fast-paced verse and fun-filled visuals about friendship. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.