dialogue and rhyme - a wonderful pairing!

I recently read a delightful picture book, (mostly) in rhyme, about the friendship between a bear and a squirrel. I'M STICKING WITH YOU is written by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, illustrated by Steve Small, and published by Henry Holt and Company in 2020.

One of the things that captured my heart from the beginning is that the story is written entirely in dialogue! The book opens with this inviting quatrain, in Bear's voice:

Wherever you're going,
I'm going too.
Whatever you're doing,
​I'm sticking with you.

Bear then tells the reader about the activities that Bear and Squirrel share together, denoted by a larger, bolder font. Squirrel has NO dialogue in the first half of this book! But the reader can see in the illustrations that Squirrel is not exactly enjoying these activities:

Taxi rides can be a tight fit with a bear in the back seat!

On the sixteenth page, the text in rhyme is broken, when Squirrel admits to the big feeling of needing a break from all of the togetherness:

Erm...actually, Bear...
I think I need to be on my own.
If you don't mind?
It's getting a bit
crowded in here.
There's 
bearly
any 
room.

Squirrel sets out to enjoy his alone time, which returns to verse, and is denoted by a slighter, lighter font:

Squirrel soon discovers that life is a bit empty without his friend, Bear. Breaking the rhyming text again for big feelings, Squirrel admits:

Where would I even be without you?
Who else would listen?
​What would I do?

The story again returns to rhyme as the two characters figure out the best ways to spend time together. Their back-and-forth dialogue alternates between the bold and lighter fonts.

The book concludes with the heartfelt exchange between Bear and Squirrel:

And whether you like it
or love it or not,

we are a team...

And I LOVE YOU

A LOT!

I'M STICKING WITH YOU is a great mentor text for

• telling a story entirely through dialogue,
• breaking a rhyming text at spots to highlight emotion,
• and examining a seamless melding of words and illustrations to tell the story.

And, if you enjoy I'M STICKING WITH YOU as much as I do, you're also going to be a fan of the equally charming follow-up published in April 2023, I'M STICKING WITH YOU, AND THE CHICKEN TOO!

~ Patricia Toht