We Go Together by Todd Dunn & Miki Sakamoto

We Go Together by Todd Dunn
Illustrated by Miki Sakamoto
Copyright 2013
Sterling Children's Books - Board Book
20 pp.

We Go Together is a cute board book with bright, vibrant illustrations and rhythmic verse, nicely sized at about 6" x 6".  I still am unable to load photos, so I asked the Sterling rep who sent me a copy to send some interior photos.  You should be able to click on each image to enlarge, but in case the text is difficult to read, this spread says:

We go together like socks and shoes,
We go together like cow and moo.

The items that go together are highlighted in bold print.

The entire book is written in this same lovely, rhyme and the illustrations are absolutely adorable.

We go together like ice cream and cone,
We go together like dog and bone.

As I was reading the book, the first time, it occurred to me that We Go Together is not necessarily limited to a young, page-tearing audience.  We Go Together would be great for teachers to use as a starting point for a lesson on things that go together.  

The only thing I dislike about the book is the ending:

We go together, that's what we do,
because you love me and . . . 
I love you!

The final spread is an illustration of a mother hugging what appears to be a daughter on the left-hand page (although it's actually not clear whether the youngster is a girl or boy, the hair is very similar to the mother's and my first thought was "mother and daughter").  The background is lavender and there are hearts on the right-hand page, along with the text.  As a mother of two boys, I found that illustration somewhat off-putting.  There are plenty of humans in the book, as you can see from the illustrations above.  But, I think it would have somehow been more fitting to show a couple of animals hugging (parent and child) to keep the gender generic.  That is, of course, a minor complaint.  

In general, I loved this little book and wouldn't avoid buying it for a little one merely because of the final illustration. If I still had small children, I would use the book as a jumping-off point for looking around the house and garden for things that go together.  I love a book that encourages exploration.

Recommended - Especially for those who want to read about or create a lesson regarding things that go together (whether teachers or parents).  Although the mother-daughter ending threw me a bit, the fact that the book works as such a terrific starting point for observation of things that "go together" combined with the book's eye-catching illustrations both add up to make We Go Together a winner.  The addition of that last rhyme about love would make the book fitting for seasonal use, as a Valentine's Day read, although the story is not so focused on the concept of love that it's self-limiting.  

I received a copy of We Go Together from Sterling Children's Books in return for an unbiased review.  
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