If Not for You

by Bob Dylan, David Walker (Illustrator)

Overview

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and illustrator David Walker team up to present this charming, cozy, and touching interpretation of “If Not for You.”

If not for you…
I’d be sad and blue.
If not for you…
I just wouldn’t have a clue.
If not for you…
What would I do?

In this inventive interpretation of Bob Dylan’s 1970 song “If Not for You,” illustrator David Walker beautifully imagines Dylan’s lyrics as portraying the bottomless love between a parent and a child—and the magical experiences they might share together.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451648812
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	439,199
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bob Dylan has released thirty-nine studio albums, which collectively have sold over 125 million copies around the world. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature and has been awarded the French Legion of Honor, a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. His memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list.

David Walker has been drawing and painting all his life. A freelance artist for almost twenty years, his work can be found on a wide array of products including greeting cards, fabrics, and, of course, children’s books. David lives and works in his studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, happily surrounded by paper, paints, and a big lazy spotted dog. Please visit David at DavidWalkerStudios.com.

Date of Birth:

May 24, 1941

Place of Birth:

Duluth, MN

Website:

http://www.bobdylan.com/

Editorial Reviews

01/11/2016
As a dog savors time spent with his rambunctious puppy, his thoughts turn to... Bob Dylan. Although the bittersweet text describes how bereft the narrator would be without his loved one (“If not for you/ Winter would have no spring/ Couldn’t hear the robin sing”), Walker—with his palette of nursery blues and greens and a cast that resembles cuddly plush toys—keeps the mood mostly light. The winter-without-spring reference shows the older dog kicking back on a green, flower-dotted hill, smiling as his offspring runs after butterflies. At times, Dylan’s lyrics force Walker (First Grade, Here I Come!) to slip into something more existential—a mood that can feel out of step with the way children think about the parent-child dynamic. The line “I’d lay awake all night/ Wait for the mornin’ light” finds Dad by himself on his bed at 4 a.m., looking up at the moon with an expression of mild anxiety. Is he pondering the inexorable passage of time? His own mortality? The cost of raising kids? Don’t think twice, Dad—it’s all right. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2016
PreS—A floppy-eared dog and his pup treasure each other's company in anthropomorphic domestic scenes that every child will recognize, such as playing games and swinging on swings. Parent and pup also travel together, riding on a polar bear's back and sailing with narwhals. The palette and technique of the acrylic illustrations are soft and rounded using broken lines and delicate highlights. They provide a warm and fuzzy feeling that adds to the theme of love between a parent and child. The lyrics to Dylan's 1970 song "If Not for You" are the text. VERDICT Walker has done a fantastic job of interpreting Dylan's song for children.—Mindy Hiatt, Salt Lake County Library Services

School Library Journal

2016-03-16
Walker illustrates the 1970 Dylan tune with an adorable parent-child canine pair. Using minimal backgrounds and props to keep the focus on the relationship, Walker masterfully conveys emotions in his acrylic illustrations. Over three pages, the text reads, "If not for you // Babe, I couldn't find the door / Couldn't even see the floor / I'd be sad and blue / If not for you," while the pictures show a game of hide-and-seek, the parent with paws over eyes, then seeking, and finally joyously finding the pup. Indeed, the parent's life would not be the same without the little one's exuberance: waking the older dog up with a trumpet, jumping in rain puddles, catching butterflies, watching the clouds and birds in the sky, and taking imaginary journeys together. And as if those weren't enough, the final two spreads spell it out: the parent sits forlornly on one swing, the adjacent one empty. A turn of the page reveals parent and child gleefully sailing through the air together with the titular phrase underneath. But while this refrain lends itself very well to the parent-loves-child-so-much genre, the rest of the song's lyrics don't always. For instance, "Babe" is not usually an address used with a child. Song lyrics don't always make great children's books, and that's the case here, but the pictures are so poignant that parents could make up their own words and turn this into something greater than it is. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews