HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH A GIANT

The smallest kid in class champions a huge newcomer in this deft, convincing suggestion that size doesn’t matter. Jacomo’s at least ten times bigger than anyone else, but little Jake finds inventive ways to help him fit in, from inviting him to race the too-small-to-fit school bus to school to trading lunches and then trading back to keep the portions fair. Or from persuading reluctant classmates to sit in his lap so there’ll be room for all on the story carpet, to teaching him not to kick a soccer ball so hard that it soars out of sight. Walrod gives her moon-faced figures simple, expressive features and a variety of skin tones, and views Jacomo from a high angle often enough to make him seem taller than average but otherwise normal. This certainly measures up to Valeri Gorbachev’s Big Little Elephant (2005) and other portraits of disparate friends. (Picture book. 6-8)