Books and Reviews

"The Way We Go"

Your Roadmap to a Better Future

by Pat Heydlauff

KIRKUS REVIEW   https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/pat-heydlauff/the-way-we-go/

The author uses the simple rhyme and meter of children’s poetry to answer questions only an adult would ask, and she highlights it with her original artwork.

Heydlauff’s (Selling Your Home with a Competitive Edge, 2011) poetry has the gentle, repetitive rhymes and rhythms of a children’s book: “Where do we begin, how do we start, / is this the way we go? // Should we go anywhere, should we go somewhere, / is this the way we go?” Her words could be song lyrics, but instead, the poems, along with a single paragraph of prose on each facing page, topped with a fluid, original painting, sketch a road map that parallels the author’s own journey from high-stress CEO to a life of peace. “Does your level of GROWTH, CALM and PEACE seem tiny at times? ACKNOWLEDGE each no matter how small and continue on your journey,” she writes. Some self-help authors come across as pretentious or strident, but Heydlauff is neither. She simply shares her experience instead of giving advice. The combination of prose, poetry and art allows her to convey the same message on several levels. The periodic use of all-caps emphasis works well here, giving each prose paragraph a sense of swing and rhythm, transitioning seamlessly from prose to poetry and back. The accompanying art is bright and spare, with simple titles that suggest but don’t limit. In “To Each I Give All,” the Earth dangles from a silver thread of hope, partially in the frame. In “Gifting Energy,” vibrant sparks, or maybe the rays of the sun, stream up and across the page. A subtle rainbow appears in almost every painting: clutched in a dove’s beak or reflecting in the clouds. Ultimately, Heydlauff doesn’t lecture—she leads.

Illustrates a place of peace or, at the very least, tranquil reflection. 

Pub Date: March 27th, 2013

ISBN: 978-1452569611

Page count: 64pp

Publisher: BalboaPress

Program: Kirkus Indie