Book Review of Will You Come, Daniella?
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The Children’s Book Review
Will You Come, Daniella?
Written by Ed Hord
Illustrated by Sen Li
Ages: 4-8 | 24 Pages
Publisher: Tellwell (2026) | ISBN: 9781834382746
What to Expect: Family separation, parental love, emotional resilience, memory.
In this touching story of separation and love from a distance, the father narrator has had years to rehearse what he would say, and his restraint makes him an empathetic and endearing character.
Ten years after being separated from his daughter by both her mother and a court case, Daniella’s father speaks to her across the gap. In this story about the resilience of love and memory, the narrator shares his experience of loving from a distance, wondering whether she laughed, whether she cried, whether she thought of him at all—and reassuring her that he was always thinking of her. Although he vividly remembers the girl who demanded to be carried home from school, the animal stickers she pressed to the car windows, and the little bike she learned to ride, there’s one thing he can’t know for certain—what his daughter is like today. All he can do is imagine her knocking at his door, and a loving reunion. Despite the distance of time and space and her continued absence, he’ll check the porch light every evening, certain the story isn’t finished.
The text is delivered via short and concrete sentences of direct address, lifting pressure from the child and providing reassurance that, “Love waits. Love hopes. Love stays.” Sen Li’s digital paintings bring the father’s emotions to life through clever use of color and light: memories glow in pink and lavender against bare white pages, while the years apart are colored a cold blue, as when a dark house appears behind pale streaks that cut across it like bars. Told wholly from one parent’s side of a separation, this story doesn’t just offer reassurance to child readers learning to cope with separation; it also gives caregivers a way to explore the longer-term impacts of separation on the family.
Perfect for families living with separation or divorce, Will You Come, Daniella? is touching and thought-provoking.
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About the Author
A University of Toronto English graduate, Ed Hord spent years immersed in words, but none were as important as the ones written for his daughter. Currently navigating the ebbs and flows of retirement alongside his three-year-old cat and a house full of roommates, he wrote Will You Come, Daniella? as a quiet, steady promise. After ten years of separation following a difficult court battle, he wants his daughter and every child who feels adrift to know they are cherished, remembered, and always welcome home.
Learn more at edhordauthor.com.
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