Praise
I Wish isn’t going to sit quietly in a category. It’s the kind of book that would rather wander off and make up its own categories, expecting you to follow dutifully behind. And you will, because it is strange and wonderful and ultimately very very memorable. Can many other books out there say half as much? ... If ever there was a book worthy of a Batchelder Award, or some similar medal for translation and writing, it is this. A strange, melancholy, oddly hopeful book for our strange, melancholy, oddly hopeful little world.
— Elizabeth Bird, School Library Journal's "A Fuse 8 Production"
Each face is round as the moon, with small shining eyes that sit curiously far apart. . . The figures rarely smile. One boy wears a bellhop’s uniform; another, a red jersey and cap. Tellegen’s inward-turned, free verse poems [are] gracefully translated by Colmer. . . By voicing the fears, angers, and secret desires of the figures, Tellegen spurs readers to embrace those of others, and their own.
— Publishers Weekly
I Wish is different. It stays with you. It makes you think. About the depths of others. The fears. The dreams. We will read it again. And again. And again. And keep thinking. Keep discussing. Keep wondering.
— Victoria DiMassa and her son T, Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk
Maybe I was missing my calling in children's poetry because almost every poem in here really hit the mark. Bite-sized and charming despite some it's darker themes and interlaced with whimsical takes on old portraits, I just fell in love. The tone and character of the poetry was full of childlike candor and far more emotion than I anticipated. It is definitely that wonderful mix of happy-sad that warms your heart.
— Emily Grace Acres, Reading Acres
