PICTURE BOOK REVIEWS : A Friend Is by Lisa Thiesing & Sharing a Smile by Nicki Kramar & Best Friend in the Whole World by Sandra Salsbury
REVIEW
This darling book shares with readers some of the delightful things that can make up a friendship. Each sentence starts with the words, "A friend is...". Friends are for making, for skating and for catching, for singing and giggling, and for listening, sharing, and playing, among other things. Each spread shows animal friends doing what is described. The cute illustrations of various animals behaving like friends demonstrates what friendship looks like. The lovely colored font highlights the simple text. This is a great book for introducing children to friendship and what it can be.
REVIEW
Sophie looks around and sees that everyone is wearing masks now, not just the Hara family down the street. She's sees Mr. Landon caring for his garden in a mask, the mail deliverer wears a mask, even the neighborhood children wear masks as they ride their bikes down the street. When she sees Jenny looking scared she comes up with a plan to reach out to her neighbors. She and her grandpa spend hours making specially decorated masks for each of the neighbors they saw outside. Then they head out to share the masks that help each person share a smile through the cute design on each mask. Evans's illustrations are the highlight of this reassuring book about reaching out to others during a difficult time. This would be a great book for helping children understand the importance of caring not only for oneself during the pandemic but also caring for others also.
REVIEW
Roland, a rabbit, lives in a tree in the woods where he enjoys drawing, music, and drinking tea. But living alone can be lonely. Roland sets out into the forest to find a friend. When he discovers a pinecone with eyes and stick arms, he is delighted. He calls his new friend, Milton and takes him home to share his activities. Later he finds missing posters of his new friend hanging from trees all over the forest. He tries to forget about the posters but he can't and finally he sets off to find the creature who put up the posters. Will Roland go back to being alone and lonely or will he find more than he ever imagined? This is a sweet story of loneliness and sacrifice. After finding what he was looking for, Roland gives it up to make someone else happy and ends up finding his own happiness in the process. Salsbury's pleasant illustrations nicely compliment this story of friendship and caring. Recommended.
These books sound sweet, friendship is so important. I am in a women's group and my assignment for our meeting next week is to think about friendship and what it is and to share my thoughts with the group.
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