I WISH, WISH, WISH FOR YOU

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 clichéd greeting-card sentiments.

Readers will wish for more from this book.