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Friends are so important–they can help bring comfort, laughter, understanding, and joy. I love finding books about friends that feel celebratory and affirming. A Friend by Anette Bley is all of that.

A Friend

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I’m glad I have a friend to play with…on rainy days.
Someone to get in trouble with…when I feel like playing tricks.
Someone to dance and laugh with…when I am happy.
A friend who is quiet with me…when I am sad.
Someone who is there…whenever I need help.

–A Friend by Anette Bley, p. 1-9.

What do you want in a friend? What do you want a friend to do with you? Picture book A Friend answers all these questions and supplies many thoughtful, loving ways to be friends, or things you might need from a friend. This book is an is affirming and encouraging celebration of what a friend can offer.

Bley’s text is a beautiful, almost poetic reminder of what a friend can be and what a friend can offer you. It reminds readers of all the ways a person can be a friend, and the many things you can do with a friend–such as play with a friend on a rainy day or get in trouble with a friend when you’re feeling impish. Bley’s text also talks about things you might want from a friend, depending on how you feel–such as quiet when you feel sad–or on what you need–a hug and comfort when you want it, yet letting you go when you ask them to. Bley also covers qualities you might want in a really good friend, such as help when you need it, but not helping when you want to do things on your own, or the courage to tell you when others are laughing at you. The qualities and actions Bley discusses also seem to fit a really good parent. For introspective readers, it may also remind them of what they can offer a friend, as well as what they can receive. The text is thoughtful, warming, and wise, reminding the reader of the good in people. It feels truly loving and kind-hearted.

The text is specific while being general enough for the reader to identify with (such as “someone who forgives me for my mistakes when I feel small and foolish”–we’ve all been there). This gives the book a universal appeal. I think it will appeal to a broad audience, and to kids and adults alike. At the end of the book, it moves from talking about who a friend is and what they can do, to asking the reader who their friend is.

Bley’s text is not a story, but a wise, kind reminder about what it means to be a friend, and what you can hope to look for in one. Each phrase is split up with an elipses and a new illustration and sometimes a page turn, which gives the reader time to think about it and finish the sentence for themselves.

Bley’s pencil-and-gouache illustrations are sweet and playful, with strong, flowing lines. The characters have a slightly cartoonish feel, and always stand out, through the use of lots of white space, lack of background detail or clutter except for necessary elements, characters usually wearing bright clothing, characters being located centrally, and strong lines.

Bley’s characters are vibrant and expressive, with strong body language, and are beautifully drawn. They show that friends come in all ages and sizes, and sometimes even in animals. The characters change in each illustration, though are sometimes repeated for comparison next to each other as part of the same sentence. This will allow both girl and boy readers to identify with the book. At the same time, there is a great fluidity and a sense of all the characters belonging together, though Bley’s strong individual style, and a similarity in the characters’ faces.

One small thing that may detract from the book for some readers is that there is not enough variation in ethnicity.

Bley changes the layout and size of the illustrations in the spreads throughout book; some illustrations are split in a spread, coming to 3/4 and 1/4 page, which moves to 3 illustrations per spread, then 2 or 3 long narrow illustrations split horizontally, then vertically. This greatly adds to the visual interest.

There is some great bonus material in the front and end papers, where we get more text and drawings about what kind of friend we might want, and what we want the friend to do, with illustrations and text that are not in the book. The illustrations in the front and end papers are in green and white.

This is a wise, feel-good book about friendship. It’s a great book for a child, as well as a good gift to give to a friend. It has comforting, heart-warming text and illustrations. The book encourages friendship and thinking about what you might need from a friend, and also offers good limits that a child–or person–should have.

Highly recommended!

How to Heal a Broken Wing

by Bob Graham
Candlewick (Aug 2008)
ISBN-10: 0763639036, ISBN-13: 978-0763639037
Ages: 4-8 (and up)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

-How to Heal a Broken Wing, Bob Graham, p. 1-8.

I love books that bring a sense of hope and bring good feeling.
How to Heal a Broken Wing does this beautifully.

A bird hits a building and falls to the ground, its wing breaking, and no one sees it or notices it–until a young boy does. He picks the bird up and takes it home, caring for it tenderly and patiently. Over time, the bird’s wing heals, and eventually when the boy sets the bird free, the bird flies away, well once more.How to Heal a Broken Wing reminds readers that kindness and empathy can make a difference, that taking action is important, and that sometimes it’s important to take the time and energy over something that others ignore. This is a book that promotes kindness and is full of hope.

Graham’s (, Max) story text is brief, without unnecessary detail, and has a good story voice. Graham’s text immediately evokes emotion, pulling at heart strings and engaging the reader with the opening text–that no one heard the soft thud of feathers against glass. It’s a powerful opening. Anyone who’s ever been hurt and ignored will be able to relate to it. Graham repeats “no one” twice (heard, saw, looked down) which increases the emotional power, and can bring a potential loneliness or sense of sadness–until the next sentence, when a boy sees and rescues the bird. The reader is given instant relief and lightness, and it works beautifully.

The story text moves from the specific (the boy, Will, seeing the bird with the broken wing), to the more general, the general text reading as a metaphor as well as being specific to the story: “A loose feather can’t be put back…but a broken wing can sometimes heal.” This can easily be taken to mean that a wounded spirit–or a wounded nation–can heal. It’s a powerful message, and an important one. Graham includes wise advice that readers can take for themselves–that to heal, the bird (or the reader) needs rest, time, and a little hope to heal. And the metaphor of flying once again after having been broken is also incredibly powerful. These metaphors and wisdom will, I think, give the book a wide readership, speaking to what each reader needs.

Graham’s illustrations and text work together beautifully, seamlessly, the illustrations showing us things the text doesn’t, sometimes complementing the text, sometimes standing in for the text.

Will, the boy in the illustrations, stands out sharply from the gloomy grey of everything and everyone else with his bright red jacket and blue pants, and his not being in a grey wash like everything else, or in dull drab colors that the other people wear. This brings visual attention and interest to the boy. And when the boy leans down to help the bird, a soft yellow light surrounds him and the bird, bringing even greater visual focus, and bringing a sense of goodness, of rightness, of bringing the first bright light in the gloom through his actions, lighting up the day. This is symbolic, and works well on many levels. The color brightens, the grey wash leaving, after the boy brings the bird home–working, again, on an emotional as well as visual level.

Graham’s pen, watercolor, and chalk illustrations are strong and evocative. They have an almost comic-book feel, with sometimes multiple panes of illustrations per page or spread showing a sequence of events, and dots for characters’ eyes. The illustrations vary in size and number on the spreads, keeping visual interest, and there is always a lot to look at.

The illustrations show us events and scenes that aren’t in the text, and that greatly add to the story, such as that Will’s parents are initially flustered by him bringing the bird home, but ultimately encouraging and accepting. And they show the boy’s and his parents’ tenderness and gentle care–how carefully the bird is wrapped to prevent further injury and carried; how the bird is fed water through an eye dropper; how they lay newspaper in a box with holes for the bird; and how, when the bird starts to get better, they try to encourage it to fly, and show it other birds through the window. Readers will enjoy poring over the illustrations, seeing everything that happens that isn’t in the text, and looking at all the details in the illustrations.

Graham uses light and dark to underscore mood and emotional tone. Light on the boy’s and parents’ faces and the bird bring a sense of hope. Graham also visually shows us the movement of time with the moon’s cycles. This worked very well for me, though some children might need an explanation.

How to Heal a Broken Wing is an uplifting, feel good book, one you’ll want to share with many people. Give this book to anyone who needs a sense of hope, of lightness, or to know that things will work out. Highly recommended!

How to Heal a Broken Wing won the Cybils awards in the fiction picture book category, and rightly so.

Want more books?

Go to Inner Strength: Strong Girls–and Boys, too to find another great picture book.


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