Just In Case You Want to Fly

★ “the words offer reassurance that you’re free to leave home knowing there are loving arms ready and waiting for your return. In striking paint and collage artwork, Robinson uses a simple, flat perspective that employs the colors of burgundy, tan, black, and gray with punches of red and blue on pure white backdrops and to present sweet pictures with a multicultural cast of children. . . . A charming assurance about letting go of the things you love from the creators of When’s My Birthday?”—Booklist, Starred Review

★ “Done in paint and collage, the artwork utilizes simple shapes and textured brush strokes to depict an appealing cast of diverse children and an array of whimsically rendered animals and everyday objects. Striking a dream-nurturing balance between the commonplace and the magical, this lovely picture book is perfect for sharing one-on-one at bedtime or anytime.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review 

★ “Just In Case You Want to Fly is humorous and heartwarming, with rhythmic, rhyming verses. Children of all ages will appreciate its uplifting words of encouragement, given with just the right amount of whimsy.  If you’d like to sing a song or enjoy a cup of tea; if you’re in need of a good joke or a good cry; this book’s got you covered.”—Foreword Reviews, Starred Review

“The rhyming text . . . sprinkles in some welcome, gentle silliness. ‘Here’s a joke / if you want to laugh’ (while, in the illustration, ‘bye, son!’ says a large…bison to a small one). . . . Robinson’s trademark sense of play, evident throughout the spare, geometric illustrations, enhances—and occasionally winks at—the text’s sense of wonder. The story ends with a young person asleep in bed, a pair of grownup hands tucking the child in, with several of the illustrations’ motifs (giraffe, toothbrush, teacup, and others) reappearing as decorations on the child’s blanket. It’s a refreshingly down-to-earth ending for a rather high-flown bedtime book.”—The Horn Book


“The team of Fogliano and Robinson (When’s My Birthday?, BCCB 9/17) returns here in another poetic flight of fancy, in this case a sprightly lyric of love and support. . . . Robinson’s familiar earthtoned paint and collage art balances crisp, geometric forms with softly streaked and dabbed textures; interpretations of the text are inventive . . . and open it up rewardingly and imaginatively, while the multicultural cast of kids in groups and small scenes roots the whimsy in the domestic.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Cheery rhythm and singing rhyme ask to be read aloud: ‘here’s a rock to skip and a coin to wish/ and a fork/ and a spoon/ and a cup/ and a dish.’ Robinson’s simple angular figures champion the low-key and the handmade (a cityscape with tall buildings and low vehicles resembles paper cutouts). . . . Robinson extends classic picture book scenes of play and home life to show all sorts of children finding magic in all kinds of places.”—Publishers Weekly

“Simple and nurturing, this will likely be loved by many a parent-child pair.”—Kirkus Reviews