I Wish, Wish, Wish for You

November 8, 2021
This collection of well wishes by Magsamen addresses the reader directly in rhyming couplets, narrating from a first-person perspective. “I wish you way more dos than don’ts/ and lots more I wills than I won’ts,” one spread reads, showcasing a bespectacled child with albinism progressively learning to play a violin. “I wish that your dreams take you very far/ and that you always stay true to who you are,” the next spread reads, as a brown-skinned child with vitiligo paints pages full of hearts. Straightforward digital art by Fernández Nitsche presents children of varying ability, religion, size, and skin tone in community in a candy-colored palette. If the wishes tread familiar territory, the encouragement served up is nevertheless warmly rendered. Ages 4–7.

December 1, 2021
Every child has infinite potential. An unseen narrator shares their vision for an unknown child's future, in hopes that they grow up knowing they are special and can make a difference in the world. The speaker desires for this youngster a life graced with laughter, adventure, friendships, kindness, the courage to stand up for what's right, and more. Each wish is as beautiful as the last, but the final wish is the most important of all. Some of the verses ("I wish that you laugh and laugh and laugh out loud / and that you know how it feels to feel really proud") have an overworked scansion that subtracts from the flow of the story. The rhyming scheme isn't particularly dynamic--out of the 10 verses in the book, three use the words you and too to achieve end rhyme. Inconsistent placement of the text on the spreads interferes with the narrative flow, forcing readers to focus on how to read the book effectively rather than the meaning of the words. Nitsche's warm digital illustrations, with rainbows and rainbow colors as motifs, depict a racially and ability diverse cast of children exuberantly experiencing all that the world has to offer. Unfortunately, the delightful illustrations are unable to redeem this trite story full of clich�d greeting-card sentiments. Readers will wish for more from this book. (Picture book. 4-8)

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April 1, 2022

PreS-Gr 2-"I believe that wishes really do come true, so here's what I wish, wish, wish for you." A small brown girl with enormous twin ponytails beseeches readers to lean in, and they will, because these are the wishes a fairy princess attending one's christening might make: "I wish that you laugh and laugh and laugh out loud," and later, "I wish you way more dos than don'ts/ and lots more I wills than I won'ts." The illustrator populates these sentiments with people who could be from any town and every town, mostly on plain backgrounds that let the words and pictures pop. VERDICT Wishes are always a great topic of conversation for kids, and these are the kinds they will be empowered to make come true.-Kimberly Olson Fakih

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