Together With You

Come rain or shine, be it spring, summer, autumn or winter the small child in this story makes the most of every minute spent with his much-loved grandmother. Her huge umbrella keeps them dry during a sudden spring downpour and hot summer days are for wearing shorts, keeping cool ‘neath the hose-sprinkler and cooling down in the shade of a large tree. Autumn brings stronger winds, when suitably dressed against the gusts – Gran in a cosy hat and sweater, the boy in snuggly scarf and fleece – decide it’s perfect weather for kite flying. Chilly winter days are when the two wrap themselves in soft quilts, don their furry slippers, snuggle close and share a story, or several, followed by a cup of peppermint tea for Gran and cocoa with marshmallows for her grandson.

Essentially though whatever the weather, as the child’s words in Patricia Toht’s rhyming text asserts, ‘every day spent with you is the very best thing.’ These two characters assuredly know how to turn their shared everyday happenings into memorable adventures they will both cherish. Jarvis’ jewel-like colours are perfect for capturing their delight in togetherness with its warmth and intergenerational love in his illustrations. Every grandmother will surely want to spend together time pouring over the details as they read this book, not once but so often that it too becomes a shared memorable adventure.