Where Are You, Brontë? by Tomie dePaola & Barbara McClintock

As soon as I opened this children’s picture book and read the front flap, I knew that I, like Ralph Wiggum on the bus that one time, was in danger. It had been a long, stressful weekend already. Did I want to cry, which I knew I would most likely do reading this book?

The verdict is still out, even as the tears are drying on my face as I type this. There’s a catharsis in crying, and a sweet, relieved ache from connecting so deeply with the emotions of another. In Tomie dePaola’s final manuscript, he describes his twelve-year relationship with his dog Brontë, from picking the puppy up at the airport, through their life and adventures together, to Brontë’s failing eyesight and health, and finally to the author’s life without his faithful companion. I was sobbing well before I turned the final page on this heartfelt memorial to one so deeply loved and missed.

But these are very grown-up reactions to a book aimed at children, with easy to read language and Barbara McClintock’s charming illustrations to propel the story along. Kids will love reading about sweet Brontë, and those who’ve recently lost a pet (or perhaps even another loved one) will take comfort in knowing that love endures after death, and that happiness can still come from the memories that we carry in our hearts.

Ofc, this applies for adults as well, who will also find much to appreciate in Ms McClintock’s moving prose tribute to Mr dePaola in her Illustrator’s Note at the end. While the bulk of the book is testament to her extraordinary artistic skill, her ability to distil the universal nature of this story into words marks her as a phenomenal writer in her own right. I truly cannot imagine anyone else bringing Mr dePaola’s final manuscript to life, and especially not this well.

Wise, tender and just the perfect melding of both creators’ art, this is a can’t miss for any library for young readers, or for the bookshelves of anyone who knows what it is to lose yet continue to take comfort in the love that was established.

Where Are You, Brontë? by Tomie dePaola & Barbara McClintock will be published tomorrow May 6 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and is available from all good booksellers, including