Come what may

A little fox named Small learns that unconditional love is always worth celebrating. Many years after her belovedNo Matter What (2008), Gliori reimagines that book's central conceit for a new generation of potential Smalls. Despite the covetable hygge kitchen setting, Small is having "A Bad Day." Small's parent, Large, made some mouthwatering muffins, but baking has clearly been an ordeal, and Small stands amid a chaos of broken eggs and spilled ingredients. Soon Small progresses to a full-on "wobbly," aka a tantrum, table overturned, feet stomping, fists flailing. Scooping up the distraught little fox (and a basket of muffins), Large walks out into an idyllic spring landscape, and they begin their ritualized dialogue: "What if I was a dinosaur?" Or a hulking tiger? Or an enormous stinging insect? Each time, Large reassuringly repeats, "I'll always love you, come what may." As in the earlier book, the sky provides the ultimate appropriate analogy: Even "a dreadful mood" passes as quickly as stormy clouds, and "like the sky / when the clouds move away, / Love stays forever, unchanged… // come what may." Cool, mostly blue backgrounds highlight the pair's warm russet fur. Relatively flat scenes give way to expansive landscapes and boundless skies. Gliori's delicate lines and colorful details, like swaths of pastel lupines and Italian cypresses, both pointing heavenward, provide visual delight, subtly signaling the emotional uplift. Reliable rhythm, rhyme, and repetition confirm the comforting stability of a caregiver's love.(Picture book. 2-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.