TOGETHER

A tender affirmation of the permanence of the parent-child bond.

Fuge follows Sam McBratney’s strategy in Guess How Much I Love You (1994) in leaving both the genders and the actual relationship between the large and small companions he conjures unspecified, so any number of situations could be mapped onto this lyrical expression of inseparability. One thing is sure—Fuge remains unexcelled in depicting animal figures of extreme, relentless adorability. Here a pair of anthropomorphic polar bears (with a certain amount of koala DNA visible in their big, shiny black noses and outsized fuzzy ears) frolics on two legs through snowy Arctic settings to undulating lines of rhymed reassurance: “We often imagine faraway lands, / with parrots and palm trees / and warm golden sands. / But then we agree that / we don’t need that stuff…. / Just being together is / more than enough!” (Fuge takes the opportunity of the reference to parrots and palm trees to imagine a tropical scene, adding a bit of warmth to the generally icy blues and whites of the cartoon spreads.) The day, spent alone aside from a few cameos by birds and other small creatures, ends in a cozy ice cave with smooches literal and figurative: “ ‘Together!’ you say, as we cuddle up tight. / ‘Forever,’ I whisper, and kiss you goodnight.” (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.4-by-20.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)

Massively cute, but not cloying, with an ever timely message.