A simple text provides examples of how people can love, support, and respect each other in a variety of ways. Each activity involves two or more people, with many parts of the text ending "with me" to emphasize that no one is above anyone else. The admirable message is summarized in the last three lines, "you hold me up / I hold you up / we hold each other up." The multimedia, folk-art-style illustrations depict people with varying skin tones and types of hair, all against simple backgrounds, which keeps the message clear and direct. Many different kinds of people der, younger, women, men e depicted, communicating that everyone has something to offer and everyone needs something else. The straightforward message appears simple on the surface, but there is deeper meaning here: The Canadian author, a woman of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish ancestry, explains in a note that past laws adversely affected indigenous peoples in general, and children in particular, and her book is part of a larger efforttoward healing and reconciliation.

You hold me up when you comfort me / when you listen to me / when you respect me.

A simple recitation of the ways that people can be supportive of one another."This book was written in the spirit of reconciliation and is dedicated to the children, families and staff of Aboriginal Head Start programs." That is the dedication; at the end, there is a longer note about notorious Indian Residential schools, where, for over 150 years, indigenous children in Canada were humiliated and abused. In between, all the words and art offer a warm and positive message. Simple and pointed phrases are printed boldly on white or pastel backgrounds on half of each double-page spread, with stylized, bright, watercolor illustrations on each opposing page. Each brown- or tan-skinned face has cheeks with outlined, bright pink circles; other features are sweetly expressive lines of ink, sometimes including little hearts for mouths. Birds, flowers, and gaily patterned wallpapers add to a feeling of contentment and communal power. The image of an adult and two children, eyes closed, singing outside by moonlight and beating on drums, is especially strong, as is an illustration of two hugging children of different skin colors and hair types. The titular phrase "You hold me up," followed by simple words such as "when you listen to me," is used several times until the final pages, where it is replaced by "I hold you up" and "We hold each other up." A final, multigenerational picnic is lovely. Calming, positive, and serenely affirmative. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-7)