MY BUDDY, SLUG

A simplistic but possibly useful tale about mending rifts, illustrated primarily in bright oranges and greens, featuring an everylad with a blabbermouth best bud who looks like a glowing orange Jabba the Hut. “It used to be Slug, Kevin, and me—the unstoppable three. Until Kevin moved away. Now it’s just Slug and me . . . all the time,” complains the young narrator. At last, the nonstop crowding gets to be too much—but when Slug overhears him fulminating to his Mom and crawls away dejectedly, it isn’t long before life seems a little lonely. The boy stumblingly apologizes, explaining that he just needed space. Rather than show some understanding, Slug is immediately all over him once again, and now he shows every sign of enjoying it. Not the most constructive of resolutions, but young readers on the outs with friends might be encouraged to bridge the gap from this simply told episode. (Picture book. 6-8)