Review: Wherever You Go, My Love Will Follow By Birgitta Sif

Hello February. We’re going to ignore the long gap of years between reviews and writing and just pick up where we are. Things have changed. my girls have grown too much. My location and interests and all sorts of things have shifted; but my love for picture books remains as strong as ever. I have a stack of books as always that I’m excited to talk about and investigate and share. So, let’s get started. First up, a lovely book of 8 short stories about love and wisdom perfect for the month of February and the week of Valentine’s Day. Take a look at Wherever You Go, My Love Will Follow by Birgitta Sif, 2024.

This book begins with a story about beginning. A little bear peeks around a tree at an older bear reading a book. The text says that you might often assume that other people know everything already. But the little bear goes on to seek out knowledge in books, that expands into plans, and then into a great creative endeavor. As the simple text describes, “you never know where a tiny spark might take you.”

And so each story goes – a simple text of wise tidbits about life, love, dreams, friendship and more – accompanied by delightful illustrations of the little bear discovering, adventuring, trying, observing, and learning all kinds of things. Building a treehouse, planting seeds, playing in snow, having a party… all darling scenes to pore over and delight in the bear’s moments and discoveries.

We spent last week reading a couple of these stories each night at bedtime with our 10 and 12 year old girls. It was a cozy moment every evening to wind down the day. A funny thing about this book, we all adored the illustrations; but were a bit conflicted about the text. We all greatly prefer a narrative—a story to capture our minds and listen. The 10 year old immediately stated after the last one that she wished it was a big, long story to go along with the illustrations. They both flipped back through the pages, oohing and aahing over the beautiful images. But the more we talked about it and looked back over our favorite pages; we also found ourselves thinking about the thoughtful, sparse text. It made us think. It sparked conversation. (It made my husband and I both choke up a bit.)

I have continued to look back through it and read a snippet or two. I have favorite illustrations already. And I have spied my 12 year old looking at the illustrations several times (especially a treehouse that triggers all kinds of dreams and plans in her own imagination and drawings). My conclusion is that it is a wonderful book. It almost functions as a wordless book story with some interesting observational text overlaying it. You could “read” the pictures without the text at all. But another, deeper level of engagement and story occurs when you read the text slowly and ponder the illustrations for several moments. And they are worth studying.

I have long followed Birgitta Sif and admired her illustrations. I am delighted by this picture book, a collection of short stories that feel like a world you want to get lost in, but with an added layer of wisdom that keeps you safe as you ponder and wonder and wrestle with learning and growing. I am thrilled to add it to our shelves and turn to it whenever we need a cozy moment and a warm literary hug.

Happy Valentine’s Day week, dear readers. I hope this new book finds its way to your homes and storytimes and you enjoy the beauty and wisdom as well. I will be back more here this year and look forward to sharing new and old stories with you as always.