With guided discussion, youngsters can see beyond the deceptive simplicity of this poignant story. A strong choice for all collections.
School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Emotionally resonant in the loveliest of ways.
Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
The duo behind Two White Rabbits returns with another compassionate portrait of a child negotiating difficult circumstances with grace.
Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
The richly colored, expressionistic multimedia illustrations add a great deal of depth to the minimal text.
Booklist
Buitrago and Yockteng present a beautiful and complex story of courage and hope where there seems to be none.
Horn Book
"Walk With Me" is refreshingly original, consistently entertaining, and very highly recommended.
Midwest Book Review
A simple, imaginative story depicting the complex emotional reality of a girl whose father no longer lives at home.
The girl conjures up an imaginary companion — a lion — who will join her on the long walk home from school. He will help her to pick up her baby brother from daycare and shop at the store (which has cut off the family’s credit), and he’ll keep her company all along the way until she is safely home. He will always come back when she needs him, unlike her father whom she sees only in a photograph — a photograph in which he clearly resembles a lion.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
- Walk with Me received starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. Kirkus called the book “emotionally resonant in the loveliest of ways.”
- It was also shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize and included on many best-of lists, including Kirkus Best Picture Books, New York Public Library Best Books for Kids and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Best of the Year.
- The illustrations suggest that the father in the story might be a victim of enforced disappearances in Latin America.