Rent a Friend

by Frieda Hughes, Chris Riddell (Illustrations)

Poor Danny is lonely. Looks like he'll have to go out and find a companion! So he heads straight for the pet shop—a nice little dog will suit him. But the pet shop owner doesn't have any dogs, and he offers Danny something else instead—a living, breathing, "human" friend of his own. But perhaps making friends isn't quite that simple, as Danny begins to realize in the adventures that follow.

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

About the author

Frieda Hughes is an English poet and painter who has spent much of her life in Australia. She has published seven children's books and four poetry collections. She is the daughter of the poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

Reviews

[Jeyanthi Manokaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing about disabilities is in itself a challenge. This book reads so fluently. In simple language, Rent a Friend is a chapter book for kids with quirky illustrations to match the wacky style of writing.

Danny is lonely and wonders what kind of friend he could rent from the pet shop. The owner gives him choices and makes him understand by trying out a variety of human friends that he actually needs someone to laugh with and being disabled doesn't make his new friend in any way less acceptable. When Danny discovers by trial and error that this twin boy in a wheelchair is the best friend he could ever dream of, he dashes back to the pet shop to inform the owner but he seems to have moved-- next door to Danny. You see, he was all along this new friend's Uncle and found what was closest to Danny's heart.

A story I like to return to many times. Unputdownable.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was rather different than I expected it to be. That's not a bad thing though as I enjoyed it. I think perhaps due to its large font and illustrated pages I thought it would be different. But the story is very detailed and even has a bit of a twist at the end. I think a lot of readers will be able to connect to this one because finding friends and bonding with others is something that some people find hard not only as a child but an adult too.
It's a really nice story.

If you like children's books then this one from 1994 is one you might like to try.