Just In Case You Want to Fly

July 8, 2019
This bubbly excursion by the team behind When’s My Birthday? celebrates parents’ impulse to give their children the world: “Just in case you want to fly/ here’s some wind/ and here’s the sky.” Children of all ages and ethnicities play and explore as the narration promises to supply all the beloved might need. Cheery rhythm and singing rhyme ask to be read aloud: “here’s a rock to skip and a coin to wish/ and a fork/ and a spoon/ and a cup/ and a dish.” Robinson’s simple angular figures champion the low-key and the handmade (a cityscape with tall buildings and low vehicles resembles paper cutouts). The verse and images follow a bedtime trajectory (“here’s a pillow/ and here’s a song/ for when you go to bed”) but contain enough energy to be read anytime: “and here is a map/ with an x on the spot/ to find your way/ home to me.” Robinson extends classic picture book scenes of play and home life to show all sorts of children finding magic in all kinds of places. Ages 3–7.

August 1, 2019
Fogliano and Robinson (When's My Birthday?, 2017) collaborate again, this time in the voice of a caregiver speaking to a beloved child. "Just in case you want to fly / here's some wind / and here's the sky." A smiling child looks out of an apartment window as clothes on a line sway in the wind. "Here's a feather / here's up high / and here's a wing / from a butterfly"--the former is on a banner drawn by an airplane; the latter beckons visitors into a museum, both in a cityscape spread. More potential needs and wants are anticipated and solved with offers of a cherry for a snack, a rock to skip, a coin to wish, a joke. Some of the offers are comfort-driven and bedtime-themed: The final spread, "and here is a map / with an x on the spot / to find your way / home to me," shows a child in bed being tucked in with a blanket covered with many of the objects from the book. Robinson's recognizable collage-and-paint illustrations are sweet as ever, featuring children diverse in skin color and hair texture. The rhyming text reads almost like Goodnight Moon's, although it has a more-explicit expression of love for the child listener. Simple and nurturing, this will likely be loved by many a parent-child pair. (Picture book. 2-7)

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Starred review from October 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-Uplifting text and enchanting artwork provide encouragement for youngsters looking to dream big and journey far, as well as soothing reassurance that home will always be waiting. "Just in case you want to fly/here's some wind/and here's the sky." As a smiling girl gazes out of her apartment window at laundry swaying on a clothesline, one shirt is carried away by the breeze, seemingly headed for adventures unknown and giving the impression that anything is possible. Reading with the cadence and familiarity of a favorite nursery rhyme, the verses gently outfit listeners with all of the required necessities for imaginary excursions, from "a cherry if you need a snack/and if you get itchy...a scratch on the back" to "a joke/if you want to laugh" and a tissue and a sigh "just in case you want to cry." Loosely echoing a getting-ready-for-bed routine, the book comes to a cozy climax with the offering of "honey for your tea" and "a map/with an x on the spot/to find your way/home to me." Done in paint and collage, the artwork utilizes simple shapes and textured brush strokes to depict an appealing cast of diverse children and an array of whimsically rendered animals and everyday objects. VERDICT Striking a dream-nurturing balance between the commonplace and the magical, this lovely picture book is perfect for sharing one-on-one at bedtime or anytime.-Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2019
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Fogliano's endearing rhyming text offers encouraging words for one who wants to take off and explore?and it includes references to some handy equipment to take along. Whether the reader is leaving for kindergarten, summer camp, or college, the words offer reassurance that you're free to leave home knowing there are loving arms ready and waiting for your return. In striking paint and collage artwork, Robinson uses a simple, flat perspective that employs the colors of burgundy, tan, black, and gray with punches of red and blue on pure white backdrops and presents sweet pictures with a multicultural cast of children. Going away on one's own can elicit varying emotions, and the text takes those into account: Just in case you want to sing / here's a la la la / and a ding ding ding contrasts with just in case you want to cry / here's a tissue / and here's a sigh. Images of things that fly include birds, butterflies, airplanes?paper and propeller?and a superhero's cape. The final double-page spread reveals a child being lovingly tucked into bed with a bedspread that's covered with pictures of the items mentioned in the rhymes. A charming assurance about letting go of the things you love, from the creators of When's My Birthday? (2017).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
"Just in case you want to fly / here's some wind / and here's the sky // here's a feather / here's up high /and here's a wing from a butterfly." The creators of When's My Birthday? turn philosophical in this offering. Though somewhat sentimental, the rhyming text's grownup-sounding voice also sprinkles in some gentle silliness. Robinson's trademark sense of play in his spare, geometric illustrations enhances--and occasionally winks at--the text's sense of wonder.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2019
Fogliano and Robinson, collaborators on the Boston Globe-Horn Book honoree When's My Birthday? (rev. 9/17), turn philosophical in this offering. While Birthday was told from a child's perspective-and an impatient one at that-Fly begins with a grownup-sounding voice: "just in case you want to fly / here's some wind / and here's the sky // here's a feather / here's up high /and here's a wing from a butterfly." The rhyming text (whose lyrical list-y-ness recalls Goodnight Moon) continues in this somewhat sentimental vein but also sprinkles in some welcome, gentle silliness. "Here's a joke / if you want to laugh" (while, in the illustration, "bye, son!" says a large...bison to a small one). Elsewhere we see a child skipping stones, and another paddling a giant teacup. We see a diverse group of kids singing in a chorus, and a giraffe "holding" a toothbrush. Robinson's trademark sense of play, evident throughout the spare, geometric illustrations, enhances-and occasionally winks at-the text's sense of wonder. The story ends with a young person asleep in bed, a pair of grownup hands tucking the child in, with several of the illustrations' motifs (giraffe, toothbrush, teacup, and others) reappearing as decorations on the child's blanket. It's a refreshingly down-to-earth ending for a rather high-flown bedtime book. Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)