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IMAGINE YOU AND ME

Name: IMAGINE YOU AND ME
Author: Benson Shum
ISBN: 9780593617069

by Benson Shum ; illustrated by Benson Shum ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 2024

A thoughtful look at making new friends.

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A young bear and a girl share a special friendship.

Randall, a bespectacled, sandy-colored bear, is best friends with Parker, a brown-skinned tot who wears her hair in puffs and has matching red glasses. Randall and Parker do everything together. They especially love to build intricate sand castles and eat ice cream. But one day, three bears playing nearby interrupt their fun. Parker encourages Randall to introduce himself, and they all shyly become friends. Except…the other bears don’t seem to notice Parker. In fact, the more they hang out together (Randall even starts wearing the same striped neckties as the others), the more Parker seems to fade away. Astute readers will realize what’s going on: Parker, who nudges Randall to be more outgoing and pushes him to try new things, may not be there at all. But not to worry; she comes back whenever he thinks of her. This gentle, matter-of-fact tale will appeal to children longing to make new friends but a bit uncertain about doing so. Shum uses light-blue sketches to convey the two pals’ imaginary play; when Parker starts to fade, she’s also outlined in blue, with only her bright-red glasses remaining. But she’ll always be there whenever Randall needs her. And, in an inspired twist, Parker finds a new pal of her own: a bear cub in need of an imaginary friend.

A thoughtful look at making new friends. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2024

ISBN: 9780593617069

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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FIRST NIGHT OF HOWLERGARTEN
by Benson Shum ; illustrated by Benson Shum

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CINDY AND PANDA
by Benson Shum ; illustrated by Benson Shum

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ANZU THE GREAT LISTENER
by Benson Shum ; illustrated by Benson Shum

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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BUDDY'S NEW BUDDY

From the Growing With Buddy series , Vol. 3

by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2022

Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.

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How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?

Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)