All the Things You Will Do!

Gr 1-4–Child-friendly art full of cheerful, simply cut construction paperlike shapes focus on one child with brown skin, brown hair, and gold circular spectacles while an omniscient adult—parent, caretaker—narrates from home. “Sometimes in the mornings/ when I’m looking down at you./ I stop and watch and ponder/ all the things that you will do,” then, “You might sing/ or dance,/ or paint in France!/ You might love to create.” Scenes show global travels and a circular path back to the narrator/adult’s arms for a hug. The pages unfold with scene after scene of children of all sizes, skin tones, and abilities in various states of movement. The main character is shown on page after page, helming a pirate ship, teaching as an adult with children circled around, and more. The narrator continues with affirmations that are meant to reassure, through bumpy times and scary, and concludes with the realization that the child has improved the adult’s life, too. It covers no new ground, but the text soothes while the narrator envisions the child’s possibilities.