Review - The Word for Friend

The Word for Friend
by Aidan Cassie
Date: 2020
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

From author/illustrator Aidan Cassie, the creator of Sterling, Best Dog Ever and Little Juniper Makes It Big!, comes The Word for Friend, an adorable and timely picture book story about ways to welcome, friendship, and overcoming language barriers that will connect classmates and cultures alike.

Kemala the pangolin is sure she's going to make friends at her new school in her new country. After all, Kemala loves to talk. The kids at school like talking, too--but their words are all different. This country speaks a language Kemala doesn't know.

At first, no one understands Kemala either. This realization makes her curl into a little ball, like most pangolins do when they're nervous. But a classmate helps draw her out with an art project that doubles as a vocabulary exchange. Soon, Kemala is learning the most universal language of all: friendship.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Here's yet another delightful offering from Aidan Cassie. Kemala is a pangolin who's just moved to a new country. When she realizes that none of the kids at school speak her language, she clams up and curls into a ball. But an anteater named Ana soon draws her out of her shell, and the two discover that friendship is a language that they can both share.

Adding a smattering of Esperanto, the book also offers a few facts about pangolins. But it's really the story and illustrations that are the real draw here. Like Sterling, Best Dog Ever and Little Juniper Makes It Big!, The Word for Friend features a cast of adorable characters with wonderful facial expressions, and charming settings for them to play in.

I think Cassie has quickly become one of my favourite picture-book authors. Though she's only released three books so far, they're all wonderful. I can't wait to see what's next!

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 5/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Review - Little Juniper Makes It BIG

Little Juniper Makes It BIG
by Aidan Cassie
Date: 2019
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Aidan Cassie, the creator of Sterling, Best Dog Ever, employs her pitch-perfect humor and heartwarming illustrations here again to help little ones love themselves at any size in Little Juniper Makes It BIG.

What Juniper lacks in size, she makes up for in heart. And her heart is dead-set on growing up and getting taller. She's tired of having to reach for the cookie jar or use a stepping stool for the toilet. Everything in Juniper's world seems to be made for adults. Ugh!

Juniper is industrious, however, and builds several silly contraptions to help reach her goals. But it isn't until she makes a fun new friend at school, Clove, who is even smaller than Juniper, that she is able to see her world from a new perspective--and appreciate all sizes, big or small.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I absolutely loved Sterling, Best Dog Ever. It's one of my top picture-book reads of 2019. So I went into Little Juniper Makes It BIG with some trepidation, because I wasn't sure if this second book by Cassie would be anywhere near as good. Could it be? To my great relief, the answer is a resounding, "YES!"

Little Juniper Makes It BIG is about an anthropomorphized raccoon child who finds that everything in her world is too big. She falls in the toilet. She can't reach the sink. She can't loot the cookie jar. Her mother assures her that she will grow, but Juniper is impatient. It isn't until she becomes friends with tiny Clove, a squirrel, that she gets a bit of perspective and realizes that being small can have its advantages.

The story is cute enough, but the illustrations just take it over the top. They're adorable, with just the right amount of humour. And I loved seeing the Hudson's Bay point blanket on Juniper's bed! (It's a nice little touch from this Canadian author.)

I really loved this book, and I can't wait to see what Cassie brings us next!

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Originality: 5/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.83 out of 5

Review - Sterling, Best Dog Ever

Sterling, Best Dog Ever
by Aidan Cassie
Date: 2018
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Sterling the dog has always wanted a home. But no home has ever wanted him. So when Sterling sees a sign on the side of the Butlery Cutlery Company advertising free "shipping to homes around the world," he is determined to become the most terrific fork ever! For what home doesn't need flatware?

Sterling is delivered on time and undamaged to the Gilbert family's front door. He is not, however, what they ordered. . . . But he may be exactly what they need. Here is a humorous, heart-tugging picture book about finding a family who wants you just as you are.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book is absolutely adorable! Setting aside for a moment the question of why this poor dog think's he's flatware, this is a story full of heart and a few laughs.

Sterling appears to live at the Butlery Cutlery factory. He seems to have been shipped to other homes before, because he thinks, This time will be different. He's determined to be the best piece of cutlery he can be... because everyone needs cutlery.

But the family is aware that he's clearly a dog, and when the little girl tries to treat him as such, things don't go so well. Forks don't walk on leashes or sit or fetch. And then, when Sterling witnesses the family eating a meal with their fingers, he wonders if they even need forks... which leads to some hilarity when he tries his hand at being other household objects.

Eventually, though, with some love and attention, Sterling realizes that he doesn't need to be something he's not for people to love him. All he needs to be is himself.

The writing is really strong in this one, and the illustrations are lovely (and hilarious). I really can't wait to see what this author/illustrator comes up with next!

Overall, this might be the best picture book I've read so far this year. Recommended to dog lovers, picture-book lovers, and anyone who appreciates cutlery (especially the kind with a wagging tail).

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Originality: 5/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.83 out of 5