Review Detail

We Go Slow

Kids Fiction 145

A leisurely day exploring the city

April 10, 2026 (Updated: June 15, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

A young boy and his grandfather start their late summer day in the city after his mother heads to work. There's a leisurely breakfast to the sound of the record player, followed by a walk outside. They meet and talk to people, pass parks and other sights, and get a snack from a stand. They pass a market, and spend some time in the park, making wishes and listening to musicians. Their whole day is spent exploring, drinking chai, and finally reluctantly taking the train back home after their long adventure.

Good Points

The illustrations and text are both very impressionistic. The low contrast palette includes a lot of grayed hues, including mauve, and the watercolor and colored pencils illustrations have very soft edges and blurred leaves and buildings. There is a vintage quality to this but I may have based that just on the grandfather's outfit and a very large, yellow car that has some 1970s qualities to it. The text is very poetic, even though it isn't rhyming, and describes things in lyrical language.

The city is almost another character in the book, and there are so many interesting things to see and do! There are many people out, and such a variety of outdoor spaces.

The world is so busy now, and it's great to have a depiction of a child and grandparent taking time to look at plants growing up out of the sidewalk and appreciating the way the light changes during the day. Not a single phone is in sight, so the little boy isn't distracted by anything but spending time with a grandfather he clearly loves, and who loves him.

I love to go on walks, and I can't wait to take my grandson on similar adventures. This book will be glad to go on a stroll with titles like Liu and Forshay's A Morning With Grandpa, Davies' Grandpa's Island, Reidy and Cotterill's A Grand Day, Castillo's Nana in the City, or my very favorite, Toht's Together With You.