THE PATH OF LIFE

A cradle-to-grave exploration of the many types of love, translated from Spanish.

“What is the force that moves the world? I find that it is LOVE.” Love takes various forms; to explain them, an unseen narrator introduces readers to brand-new baby Anna, who enters the world “surrounded by unconditional love, cocooned in the deepest feelings of affection and protection.” As Anna grows, she discovers more forms of love. Her devoted dog, Milo, introduces her to “loyal love”; as she explores her passion for art, “inspirational love [shines] out of the canvas of her dreams.” Now an adult, Anna experiences “dedicated love” through her work as a doctor. “Deep love [reveals] itself in the kisses of the person who [makes] her heart race, and with whom she start[s] a family.” Eventually she grows old and dies, but “her everlasting love remain[s], glowing in the hearts of those with whom she had shared her life.” The end of Anna’s life is portrayed gently and abstractly; Expósito Escalona’s tone is reassuringly firm yet soft, matched by Baltasar’s tenderly realistic images. The use of higher-level vocabulary and mature topics—romantic love, aging—make this work more appropriate for older or more sophisticated readers; adults may want to use it to spark conversations on loss, mortality, and the power of love. Anna is pale-skinned; other characters vary in skin tone. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish.

Emotional, reassuring, and poetic—a journey of love to be cherished.