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Reviewed by:
  • My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano
  • Deborah Stevenson, Editor
Fogliano, Julie My Best Friend; illus. by Jillian Tamaki. Atheneum,
2020 [32p]
Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-2722-8 $17.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-2723-5 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys R* 2-4 yrs

Fogliano's sprightly free verse celebrates the pleasure of new friendship in this chronicle of two girls who are instantly simpatico. They're in tune whether they're noisy ("When/ i say la la la/ she says/ la la la") or calm ("sometimes when we are feeling quiet/ we sit under a big tree"); the speaker loves her friend's shiny hair and appreciation of the narrator's pickle imitation ("she really really liked that"). The end reveals just how new this friendship is ("i'm not sure about her name/ but i will ask her tomorrow/ and she will tell me then// because we are/ best friends"). That ending may come as a humorous twist to adults but it's an honest and affectionate representation of the way two kids can just find the same wavelength, and the giddy shared joy is keen and palpable. Tamaki's original art is labeled as digital but looks like colored pencil, with a palette almost entirely limited to shades of peach, pickle green, and rusty brown; poses are pure kid, from the frequent open-mouthed glee to the casual angles of knees as the girls flop down to draw. Listeners will doubtless want to talk about their own wonderful friendships in response, and those skittish about new situations and people may find this a reassuring reminder that they can be wonderful. Make sure viewers watch the story unfold from the pre-textual pages, wherein the friendship is quickly forged.

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