I'll Never Let You Go

I'll Never Let You Go

Written by Smriti Prasadam-Halls; Illustrated by Alison Brown

Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2015, Grades K-3

This is a fiction story about the love of a parent for their child. This love is represented in many different animals, such as a bear, kangaroo, or crocodile. Each parent talks about how they love their child when they are happy, sad, angry, naughty, excited, or even irritated and bored. Each parent also laments how they will never let their child go, and will love them forever. There are a variety of animals because everyone expresses love in a different way, and a good parent will love you through anything. It is a very sweet story, with such a simple message; it will touch anyone's heart. 

The author's style is very simple; each page, for example, goes on to say when you are sleeping, curled up so tight, I stay awake, keeping watch through the night. There is repetition all throughout this book, as the parent states what they will do when their child needs them. There is rhyming all throughout the story, and there are also metaphors. For example, the line "When you are sad and troubled with fears, I hold you close and dry all of your tears." represents a parent being there for their child, whether it is in good times or bad times. The rhyming in the story will catch the attention of younger children and adults everywhere, because every line contains a heartwarming message. 

The illustrations are very cute and colorful. You can tell that they were painted in watercolor. Each illustration shows an animal and their young, and accurately describes each scenario. For example, on one page, a young dog is disobeying its parent by coloring on the wall. The illustration accurately depicts this. Each illustration also shows colors that go with the mood of the text; when the child is sad, the colors are blue, and when the child is happy and excited, there are bright orange or red colors. The illustrations are eye-popping, and will appeal to younger audiences because of the detail. I think the illustration that is the most effective in this book would be the last page, which shows every animal with their baby, hugging and watching fireworks go off in the sky. This is effective because it shows many different animals all celebrating the same thing, which is love.

I thought this book was very sweet. I think that any loving parent would want this book for their child, because it will accurately show how much they love them. The goal in this book is to show how love takes different forms, and that is accurately shown. Younger audiences will love this book because the story is simple, and the illustrations are creative and fun. Parents, teachers, and other adults will also love this book because it is about one of the greatest love stories; the story between a parent and their child. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a young child, particularly around the ages of kindergarten through third grade, because it is so heartwarming. I would also recommend this to early childhood teachers, because it would be a great addition to have in their classroom. Overall, everyone will enjoy this book, because love is contagious, especially the love between a parent and their child. 

Reviewed by Katie Partyka