Where Are You Now?

In Where Are You Now?, the reader follows the journey of several different parts of nature as they first seem to vanish forever but then are revealed to be only in a different place, if one is willing to work hard enough to find them.

Where Are You Now? is a succinct, yet complicated, journey into the transformative nature of all things. As the reader is asked where things have gone, be they stars, snowflakes, fruits or children, they are soon reminded that all of those things are made of matter, of every speck that has built the universe, and, therefore, when they seem to disappear, they have simply become smaller parts, back into other spaces, now part of something different.

The book is also a beautiful metaphor of grief, of missing things as we have known them. When asked, “Where are you child?”, the message that children do, in fact, disappear – into adults – is a bittersweet one, one that most parents will find familiar as they fear the speed that their child changes but feel pride of the fully formed adult they may become. Just as the apple becomes seeds, the star becomes sand and the snowflake becomes water, the author reminds us that the person who is gone is still there in the way we live our lives, through the memories and lessons that have become part of the people they touched.

The artwork is subtle and beautiful, watercolor and pencil giving the spreads a childlike quality while remaining poignant and a necessary addition to the text that elevates the content like melody elevates lyrics in a song. Where Are You Now? may be a little complicated for very young children, but it will no doubt prove a wonderful read-aloud experience with its short text, enticing colors and positive message, encouraging both children and adults to look at the world a little differently.