When I'm With You

by Pat Zietlow Miller, Eliza Wheeler (Illustrator)

Overview

There’s something that I’ve noticed.
Perhaps you’ve seen it, too.
Life is so much better
when it’s me and you.
 
From the time we are young, we are drawn to special people—the ones who complete our sentences and who know our favorite color, food, and song. The people who understand us and make us happier than anyone else in the world. After all, no matter how much time passes or how many miles tug us apart, there is no one quite like a best friend.
 
From New York Times bestselling creators Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler, this jubilant celebration of friendship and the adventures of childhood will make your heart sing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316429153
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Pat Zietlow Miller is the bestselling and award-winning author of Be Kind, Sophie’s Squash, The Quickest Kid in Clarksville, Wherever You Go, and When You Are Brave, among others. She lives in Wisconsin and invites you to visit her online at patzietlowmiller.com.

Eliza Wheeler is the bestselling and award-winning creator of Home in the Woods and Miss Maple’s Seeds, and the illustrator of the Newbery Honor Book Doll Bones as well as Wherever You Go and When You Are Brave, among others. She lives in Minnesota and invites you to visit her online at wheelerstudio.com.
 

Editorial Reviews

03/14/2022

The previous cocreators celebrate friendship in all its forms with this affectionate greeting card–style paean. Companions of varying ability, body shape, skin tone, and species feature in spreads that loosely represent Miller’s tender rhymes (“You’ll be the key to my lock./ The right shoe for my sock”). Wheeler’s absorbing multimedia artwork has an enchanted quality; characters ride insects, float in outer space, and serve treats in a rosy candy land. In one scene, the friends—outfitted in diving gear and mermaid fins—swim among jellyfish and seahorses in a fish tank (“You’re the soap that scrubs my dish./ You’re the flakes that feed my fish”). Suggesting that neither storms, mistakes, distance, nor age can come between besties, this reiterative tribute extols long-term fellowship. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Suggesting that neither storms, mistakes, distance, nor age can come between besties, this reiterative tribute extols long-term fellowship."—Publishers Weekly

"Miller and Wheeler team up for another rhyming rainfall of word-sounds and picture-play. This time, it’s an ode to life-long friendship. [...]  Like their first two books Wherever You Go and When You Are Brave, the text reads more like song lyrics than a narrative, but Wheeler’s fresh illustration style done in ink, watercolor, acrylic paint, wax pastels, and collage give readers plenty of story to live in."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

04/15/2022

K-Gr 2—Miller and Wheeler team up for another rhyming rainfall of word-sounds and picture-play. This time, it's an ode to life-long friendship. After slightly clunky introductory stanzas, Miller's gems shine all the way to the end. From the somewhat expected, "You're the apple on my tree, you're the honey to my bee," to completely original, "You're the basket on my bike, you're the canteen on my hike," adults will love reading this aloud and children will revel in the intricate illustrations that seamlessly incorporate fantastic elements (mermaids in the fish tank, a pirate ship at the beach) with the everyday, showing the imaginative connection friends share in life. Like their first two books, Wherever You Go and When You Are Brave, the text reads more like song lyrics than a narrative, but Wheeler's fresh illustration style done in ink, watercolor, acrylic paint, wax pastels, and collage give readers plenty of story to live in. While younger readers may not completely be able to conceptualize, "Even if we're ninety-two," they'll take comfort in the idea that no matter how many birthdays they have, "You're the candle for my cake, you're my favorite wish to make," friendships really can last a lifetime. VERDICT Purchase anywhere the other books are popular.—Hillary Perelyubskiy

School Library Journal

2021-12-03
The message here is clear: Life is better when shared with special people.

Speaking directly to the reader in rhyming verses, the first-person narrator extols the enduring joys of friendship. Whether the friendship started “when we both were small” or “once we had a chance to grow,” the narrator admits “I'm happier with you.” Often, the narrator tickles the reader with amusing sweet nothings: “If one plus one makes two, / I'm the one who goes with you,” and “You like pink, and I like blue. / I'll make lavender with you.” Whether kindred spirits are playing together, enjoying quiet time, working side by side, or exploring the world with each other, the people who ‘get us’ make our lives that much happier. Even when friends grow up, change, and no longer live close by, the narrator promises to “find a way to keep you in my head and in my heart.” Clever use of related object analogies—“You're the apple on my tree. / You're the honey to my bee” or “You're the hat that fits my head. / You're the hilltop for my sled”—creates a jaunty rhythm ideal for reading aloud. Busy, upbeat, mixed-media illustrations rendered in a cheerful pastel palette feature racially and gender diverse friends (including animal companions) engaged in both familiar activities and fantastical adventures, many of them taking place in nature.

An exuberant yet earnest assemblage of fast-paced verse and fun-filled visuals about friendship. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews