I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love
by Nancy Tillman

There are things about you quite unlike any other . . .
Things always known by your father or mother.
So if you decide to be different one day,
No worries . . . I’d know you anyway.

The things people throw away! I picked up this book from my library’s rack of discards and donations.  I took a few children’s books that day and left a dollar in the donation box. This one appeared to be worth carrying home just for the paintings, even if the text turned out to be too sappy for my taste.  

It isn’t, though.  It’s sweet, beautiful, and exudes love from every page.   

I love that Mom is a splash of red in every scene. She will be easy to spot when she’s needed. Whatever her child decides to be on a given day, she will be watching, sometimes near, sometimes a little further away than might be comfortable for her.  

Besides his magical smile or the gleam in his eye, she would recognize her child’s grin, perhaps, or his chinny chin chin.  It might be the sound of his feet, his nose, or even his one-of-a-kind happy dance.

With such entrancing paintings, Tillman needs fewer than 350 words to fashion a picture of a mother’s selfless love. This love holds its object close, but can allow wings to stretch when the time is right.