I’ll Never Let You Go

Richmond’s (I Love You So...) latest celebration of unconditional parent-child love involves a third object of affection: a young bear’s baby blanket. Edward and Blankie are “the best of friends” who, as Richmond sweetly puts it, “met on the first day of Edward.” From stroller rides to naptime, the two are inseparable (the book’s title is Edward’s repeated refrain), and the author gives Blankie the faintest whiff of personification: “It’s true that Blankie would do anything for Edward. Be the table for his picnic. The roof of his fort. Or the cape for his magician’s costume.” The friendship-companionship theme segues into one of separation when Edward worries about going off to school without Blankie and suggests that the blanket will be sad without him. Mama finds a smart way to comfort her offspring, likening his impending separation from Blankie to hers from Edward: “ ‘When you love someone, you’re always together in here,’ she said, patting her heart.” Wispy, lightly dabbled watercolors in a pastel palette simply yet assuredly transmit Edward’s devotion to Blankie, and that of his mother to Edward. Ages 4–up. (Mar.)