Kirkus Reviews QR Code
WHEREVER YOU GO by Pat Zietlow Miller Kirkus Star

WHEREVER YOU GO

by Pat Zietlow Miller ; illustrated by Eliza Wheeler

Pub Date: May 5th, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-316-40002-2
Publisher: Little, Brown

A rabbit's cross-country bike excursion introduces the open road, its free-wheeling, giddy freedom, and its role in connecting travelers to an ever changing landscape of new friends and communities.

The rise and fall of recurring rhyme mimics the anticipated twists and turns of a road while explaining what roads do. Miller's verse, infused with musical momentum, communicates the emotional arch of a journey with beautiful brevity: "Clinging to cliffs. / Chasing a cloud. / Reaching the top, / tired but proud." The rabbit’s road coils through an animal kingdom of forests, treehouses, country cottages, bustling seaside villages, glimmering cities and mountain overlooks. The sunshine-hued, delicate artwork embraces both the panoramic vastness of the countryside and the definitive details nestled in its valleys, meadows, towns and treetops. Each double-page spread invites readers to stop and look closely at the lichen hugging the tree, the bending roses, the bouncing musicians, the twinkling carnival, the romantic dinner parties, the ships' many sails, the cactus' sharp needles, the wisps of clouds on a mountain ridge. The rabbit rolls on, picking up buddies and smiling at clusters of congregating critters the whole way. Children, thanks to captivating artwork and rhyme, will want nothing more than to ride his handlebars, bouncing and merry.

At the mountain's summit, young readers will glow with the understanding that roads connect more than places—and the assurance they can retrace this reading journey nightly.

(Picture book. 3-8)