If You Were Here

For kids ages 3-7, this lyrical picture book explores the complex emotions around missing a loved one, with stunning illustrations by Ojibwe artist Maya McKibbin.

I wish I could show you…

this great big meadow,

like a sea of lacy clouds….

In this beautiful ode to nature and mindfulness, a child sets out to explore the environment around their home, using all their senses. Yet, someone important is missing, someone the child wishes could be there on the journey.

Expressive text by Kathy Stinson leaves room for readers’ own interpretations about who the child in the story might be missing, while Indigenous illustrator Maya McKibbin’s gorgeous images capture the lush beauty of the natural world and the tenderness of a child’s emotions.

The perfect book for helping a child navigate loss, or missing someone that can’t be there with them.

Kathy Stinson has loved reading all her life but was almost thirty before she discovered she loved writing too. Since the publication of Red Is Best in 1982, she has become the author of over fifty titles that include picture books, novels, short stories, biographies, and other works of non-fiction. Mother, stepmother, and grandmother, Kathy is still an avid reader. When not reading or writing, she enjoys photography, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, and walking in the woods and fields near her home in Rockwood, Ontario. If You Were Here began with something she wrote for someone unable to join her for a walk on a beach in Scotland more than twenty-five years ago.

Maya McKibbin is a Two-Spirited Ojibwe, Irish filmmaker, illustrator and indie game artist. They grew up in shíshálh and later in the Southwest of England. Maya’s work explores the magic of the natural world both human and not, their illustrations take on subjects of the supernatural, grief, nostalgia and curiosity.