The Buddy Bench (Confetti Kids #8)

August 1, 2019

K-Gr 2-A delightful story about a group of children who create a buddy bench where children can meet and make new friends. Padma is excited to start school. She is the first of her friends to get to the school yard. Padma is a charismatic and friendly child and makes friends easily. She notices a boy all alone during recess. Padma then gets an idea to create a buddy bench where new children can sit and make friends with the rest of the kids. This beginning reader is broken into short chapters. This novelty is great for children who are learning the concepts of transitioning from one story line to the other. There are three to four sentences on each page, which is just enough for kids getting familiar with reading on their own. VERDICT This story teaches children how to be a friend, especially to someone who needs a friend. A great addition for school and public libraries.-Annmarie Braithwaite, New York Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Follow finds map-loving Pablo leading his pals on a day trip to Coney Island via city bus and subway. In Buddy, Padma helps decorate a "buddy bench" for classmates in need of friends. The story lines are somewhat bland, but the always-helpful group of friends, illustrated with a variety of skin tones in Ng-Benitez's cheery digitally altered watercolor pictures, is warmly portrayed.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

April 15, 2019
When Padma and her friends notice a lonely new boy at school, they make a plan to help him feel included. Padma loves school, and she loves her friends. When she finds out that she has been assigned to a different classroom than her friends, she isn't bothered, seeing it instead it as an opportunity to make new friends. But Padma notices a new boy who stands by himself at the side of the playground, looking lonely. To help him feel included, Padma and her friends get the principal's permission to create a "buddy bench," a place where kids can sit together and make new friends. After some initial hesitation, the lonely boy sits on the bench, and Padma and her friends learn that Zander's mom is a military pilot and that the family has been through a number of moves. Padma strikes up a friendship with him, and by the end of the book, he has been absorbed into Padma's happy and diverse peer group. Padma's name hints at Indian heritage, and Zander appears black. The book's vibrant illustrations include a diverse cast of characters who are compassionate, convincing, and empowered to solve their own problems. Although the language is appropriately simple and clear, it can sometimes feel forced and stilted, particularly in dialogue. Likewise, the plot, though well-intentioned, lacks cohesion. An appealingly illustrated early reader that's strong on social message but rather weak on plot. (Early reader. 6-9)

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