  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 01/01/2020 PreS-Gr 1—What are the qualities that make a best friend? Does her hair shine and her laugh fill the air? Does she hate strawberry ice cream? Beginning at a tire swing on a playground, two young girls spend a fun-filled day together, laughing, playing, and pretending as they explore the park and learn about each other. Whether they're enjoying a quiet moment together or laughing into their knees to keep from being too loud, the world seems to have stopped just for them. Despite their differences, and especially the fact that one loves strawberry ice cream while the other detests it, they have all the makings of the best of friends—all before they learn each other's name! Little girls and their parents will fall in love with this book from the first page. Riveting, dynamic illustrations create the backdrop of this story, presented in the muted hues of sunset. The pencil lines are defined while simultaneously disappearing to give way to the larger images. Each line of text sounds like it came from the diary of a young girl, including very few uses of punctuation or capital letters. Paired beautifully with the illustrations, the combination draws readers into the whimsical and exciting moments of a budding new friendship. VERDICT Children will happily recognize their first experiences with close friendship as they read this book, losing themselves in the emotions that are so aptly captured.—Mary Lanni, formerly at Denver Public Library - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 01/01/2020 *Starred Review* Fogliano (Just In Case You Want to Fly, 2019) has a knack for capturing the emotional tenor of very specific little kid experiences, and her latest, in collaboration with Tamaki (They Say Blue, 2018), is no different. Two girls, one pale with ginger hair, the other with sleek black hair and glasses, joyously run around a playground, sharing jokes, games, and quiet time, while Fogliano’s lines narrate the redhead’s inner monologue: “i have a new friend / and her hair is black / and it shines / and it shines / and she always laughs at everything.” Their spontaneous, imaginative play lacks logical sequence, but it’s clear from Tamaki’s exuberant artwork, in a limited palette of warm, peachy pinks and deep, earthy greens, that logic doesn’t matter one bit. The girls quack like ducks; one chases the other with a spooky leaf; the redhead pretends to be a pickle—and through it all, they bounce around the page spreads with sheer happiness on their faces. Then their day of fun abruptly comes to an end, when it’s revealed that the girls only just met. Tamaki’s masterful grasp of faces and mirthful body language, echoed in the looping, lively movement of the plants and animals in the background, is a captivating complement to Fogliano’s plainspoken but evocative text, and the combination is sure to resonate with anyone who’s ever made a fast friend. - Copyright 2020 Booklist. Loading...
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