My Best Friend

Starred review from December 9, 2019
“I have a new friend/ and her hair is black/ and it shines/ and it shines/ and she always laughs at everything.” Fogliano (Just in Case You Want to Fly) captures the feeling of giddy infatuation when a child first meets another and feels an instant bond—it’s an early form of falling in love. The speaker is a wide-eyed girl with a red ponytail; the new friend wears round glasses and a delighted look. “She is so smart,” the speaker confides—she can strip a leaf down to make a “skeleton hand,” and weaves together the stems of trodden-on flowers so they don’t look so smashed (“she helps me fix them/ sort of”). Swinging, dancing in dizzy spirals, and games of chase lead to a string of new discoveries (“she is my best friend/ i think/ i’ve never had a best friend,” the girl confides, “so i’m not sure”). Rust and olive vignettes by Tamaki (They Say Blue) burst with energy that seems boundless, and closer inspection reveals elegantly controlled draftsmanship portraying muffled laughter and scribbled chalk lines. Young children have big feelings, and discovering someone their own age who adores them back is an event worth celebrating. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from January 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 1-What are the qualities that make a best friend? Does her hair shine and her laugh fill the air? Does she hate strawberry ice cream? Beginning at a tire swing on a playground, two young girls spend a fun-filled day together, laughing, playing, and pretending as they explore the park and learn about each other. Whether they're enjoying a quiet moment together or laughing into their knees to keep from being too loud, the world seems to have stopped just for them. Despite their differences, and especially the fact that one loves strawberry ice cream while the other detests it, they have all the makings of the best of friends-all before they learn each other's name! Little girls and their parents will fall in love with this book from the first page. Riveting, dynamic illustrations create the backdrop of this story, presented in the muted hues of sunset. The pencil lines are defined while simultaneously disappearing to give way to the larger images. Each line of text sounds like it came from the diary of a young girl, including very few uses of punctuation or capital letters. Paired beautifully with the illustrations, the combination draws readers into the whimsical and exciting moments of a budding new friendship. VERDICT Children will happily recognize their first experiences with close friendship as they read this book, losing themselves in the emotions that are so aptly captured.-Mary Lanni, formerly at Denver Public Library

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
Friendships are always new at first, with moments full of uncertainty and potential. On the opening endpapers, a bold illustration of a young girl with pale skin and red hair gazes at readers, inviting them into a story that, like her friendship, is just beginning. Turn the page and the perspective shifts, as readers become bystanders to a budding interaction with a second girl, also pale-skinned but with black hair and glasses. Simple, spare text that shifts easily from first to second person weaves the tale of this dynamic pair as they leap and swing through each other's imaginations and discover likes and dislikes, complexities, and nuances that make a friendship solid. Their hug, at the emotional climax of the book, is portrayed up close, surrounded by dynamic lines that evoke the energy of the moment and juxtaposed with text that belies an inner uncertainty that can be common with meeting new people. Though they don't yet know each other's names, still these girls are kindred spirits. The closing illustration mirrors the opening one--the protagonist looking away from readers and toward her new buddy as each girl leaves with her caregiver. Tamaki depicts the girls in soft, round lines rendered in red and green colored pencil, which evokes an emotional resonance through the artwork. A delightful new friendship portrayed in all its emergent, ebullient, and transformative ways. (Picture book. 3-7)

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Starred review from January 1, 2020
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Fogliano (Just In Case You Want to Fly, 2019) has a knack for capturing the emotional tenor of very specific little kid experiences, and her latest, in collaboration with Tamaki (They Say Blue, 2018), is no different. Two girls, one pale with ginger hair, the other with sleek black hair and glasses, joyously run around a playground, sharing jokes, games, and quiet time, while Fogliano's lines narrate the redhead's inner monologue: i have a new friend / and her hair is black / and it shines / and it shines / and she always laughs at everything. Their spontaneous, imaginative play lacks logical sequence, but it's clear from Tamaki's exuberant artwork, in a limited palette of warm, peachy pinks and deep, earthy greens, that logic doesn't matter one bit. The girls quack like ducks; one chases the other with a spooky leaf; the redhead pretends to be a pickle?and through it all, they bounce around the page spreads with sheer happiness on their faces. Then their day of fun abruptly comes to an end, when it's revealed that the girls only just met. Tamaki's masterful grasp of faces and mirthful body language, echoed in the looping, lively movement of the plants and animals in the background, is a captivating complement to Fogliano's plainspoken but evocative text, and the combination is sure to resonate with anyone who's ever made a fast friend.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2020
What begins on the title spread as a small redheaded girl hesitantly approaching another girl on a tire swing becomes an ode to making friends. Our narrator gleefully shares this discovered joy: "i have a new friend / and her hair is black / and it shines / and it shines / and she always laughs at everything." In digital illustrations rendered entirely in complementary shades of blush and green, the two preschoolers romp between leafy trees and rows of flowers at a park. The earnest, unrestrained text plays alongside the pair, each stanza following the girls' movement as they twirl in loops or draw with chalk or quack like ducks. By the time the two part ways, the narrator already has plans in mind for the next time they're together: "i'm not sure about her name / but i will ask her tomorrow / and she will tell me then / because we are best friends." The two-toned palette and mostly white backdrop create the impression that the girls, if only for a brief time, exist in a world all their own, while the energetic, curved lines of the illustrations mirror the constant motion of young children's play. The book honors the details of such simple and unaffected love, capturing intimately shared laughter and, during a pause in the action at its center, a tight hug around the neck. With text, color, and line cooperating seamlessly, Fogliano and Tamaki forge a friendship that rings true.

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2020
What begins on the title spread as a small redheaded girl hesitantly approaching another girl on a tire swing becomes an ode to making friends. Our narrator gleefully shares this discovered joy: "i have a new friend / and her hair is black / and it shines / and it shines / and she always laughs at everything." In digital illustrations rendered entirely in complementary shades of blush and green, the two preschoolers romp between leafy trees and rows of flowers at a park. The earnest, unrestrained text plays alongside the pair, each stanza following the girls' movement as they twirl in loops or draw with chalk or quack like ducks. By the time the two part ways, the narrator already has plans in mind for the next time they're together: "i'm not sure about her name / but i will ask her tomorrow / and she will tell me then / because we are best friends." The two-toned palette and mostly white backdrop create the impression that the girls, if only for a brief time, exist in a world all their own, while the energetic, curved lines of the illustrations mirror the constant motion of young children's play. The book honors the details of such simple and unaffected love, capturing intimately shared laughter and, during a pause in the action at its center, a tight hug around the neck. With text, color, and line cooperating seamlessly, Fogliano and Tamaki forge a friendship that rings true. Grace McKinney

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)