Friends

by Mies van Hout

Happy was an international hit that showed off Mies van Hout's uncanny ability to convey feelings with her vibrant illustrations.With Friends she goes one step further and shows emotional interactions. Just as she made the fish of Happy uniquely hers, here she uses monsters to show different situations--they cuddle, laugh, play, but they also fight, tease and more--making the images recognizable for little monsters of all ages.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Monsters, Emotion, Storytime, Fiction

18 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

I grew up in a village in the south of Holland called Hapert. My father allways told us stories. When he was telling we were all sitting around him. I also liked reading, but most of the time I was drawing.
When I was very young I knew that I wanted to become a drawer. And I didn't know what to do otherwise.

http://www.miesvanhout.nl/engelsoverm...

Reviews

[Jukaschar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful picture book with cute monster friends! This book doesn't contain any story, so unimaginative people beware!

[Matthieu Wegh · Rating 4 out of 5]

? Bij een minibiebje gevonden met een sticker met zwerfboek erop..
🤔 mijn Indiase voorleesgezin is fluently in English, dus met de bijzondere prenten met Engelse thema's/ woorden kunnen we volgende week zeker iets doen als Nihaara zin heeft in dit boek..en anders nemen we eerst een ander dus...
MW 29/12/22
Vandaag met mijn voorleesgezin dit boek besproken (moeder spreekt goed Engels) en we hadden door de verschillende emoties die in dit boek met vrienden gedeeld worden een leuke discussie met z'n 3-en.
MW 2/1/23
Na 20 keer voorlezen bladerde ik het nog even door en heb ik het bij de diploma-uitreiking aan mijn Indiase voorleesfamilie cadeau gedaan
MW 22/2/23
Vandaag dit schattige boekje in een Nederlandse versie ipv Engels bij mijn bieb gevonden. Blijft een bijzonder leuk boekje.
MW 19/2/24

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about friendship and its value and issues. The beautiful illustrations depict the sparse text very well, giving little reader-monsters lots to talk about.

[Jassmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures are so pretty and imaginative! Really love them...
What else can I say? I guess I really love how different all of those friends look like and what message that sends...

I for some reason really love this image, even though there certainly are some more cheerful ones...

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes monsters can be scary to young children. Mies van Hout shows the beauty of friendship through monsters. This can show children that monsters don't have to be so scary. Mies van Hout uses simple verbs with beautiful illustrations to demonstrate the action. This is a wonderful book to add to any young child's library.

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for illustrating and identifying emotions. Fun, lively monster illustrations will appeal to the preschool and kindergarten crowd.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 2012 in the Netherlands, this striking picture book [3.5 for me] features chalk and pastel artwork set against a stark black background. The adorable, expressive monsters on each double-page spread experience all sorts of emotions such as "fight" and "hope" and actions such as "tease" and "cuddle," all of which are most likely parts of being a child and learning about the ups and downs of friendship. It's hard to imagine a more effective child-centered way to capture these feelings and experiences. Adults may not be as charmed as the book's intended audience, but that need not worry any librarian considering purchasing it since the contents deliver exactly what the book's title promises.

[Bord uit, boek aan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Met je vrienden kun je lachen en huilen. Samen spelen, samen ruzie maken èn het weer goed maken! Dit prachtige prentenboek van Mies van Hout laat het allemaal zien in geweldige illustraties! Leuk om samen met je kind te bekijken, maar zeker ook geschikt om te gebruiken in de groep. Ideaal voor een kringgesprek over vriendschap of emoties.

[createitlibrarian (Amanda) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about the book. The art is fun. I'm trying to instill strong SEL concepts in the kids and I worry this would take them a few steps back. If you read this to kids it's likely best to do a guided reading and ask some SEL questions along the way.

"Is it okay to hit?"
"Is it nice to ignore?"
"What can you do when you and your friend are bored?"

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely gorgeous book filled with lush illustrations on the emotions of friendship with one word one each page. Geared to preschoolers but an ageless book all the same that any art lover or child at heart will cherish.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a single word on each page describing what friends do (whether play, embarrass or hope), this book presents many different kinds of friends.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple little list of activities and emotions inspired by our friends. Super cute monster scribbles too. Checked out of JoCo library on my friend Maria's card. Maria would rate the book a 4.8.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect addition to friendship Storytime.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great for art example of oil pastels

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute

[Y.Poston]

lovely exploration of friendship
delightful illustrations

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just loved these illustrations.

[Wisperlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable story, running the full range of friendship from lazy coziness to anger, with beautiful art.

[LS Johnson]

monsters; one word descriptive word on each page; translated book

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing childlike drawing illustrate one-word texts reads on the subject of friends.

[Nanny B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique
One word
Interesting illustrations

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I let the babies color pictures and then stuck googly eyes on them so they could have their own monster friends

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Storytime: Monsters, Halloween, Friends

Read this for Tiny Hands Art Class when we did coloring on dark paper. Super cute and the kids loved the funny monsters!

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

love the illustrations

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very expressive and bright illustrations demonstrate what one word states for each two-page spread. Two friends tease, fight, make up, trust, and more.

[Amanda Harkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This is a great book for visual literacy. Each page only has one word, either an emotion or action, that relates to friendship. The book explores feelings with vibrant colors and child-like pastel drawings. This is a good book for boys and girls in preschool and kindergarten as they develop their reading skills.

Activity: As you read the book,discuss what the class sees in the picture. Read the word to them and ask them what is happening in the picture? How do the characters feel? What are they thinking? Why do they feel that way? What happens next- how can they make up, if they are upset or what else could they do together if they are happy? Then, have the students return to their seats and use crayons and manila paper to draw a picture of an emotion or interaction that you assign to them. When they are done, post it on the wall as a class display with their words written on them.

APA: Van Hout, Mies. (2013). Friends. Lemniscaat: Rotterdam.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love this one quite as much as I did Happy (I think partly I'm just more partial to fish than I am to monsters), but it's still a beautifully illustrated book, and such a great and simple concept for young children. In this one, instead of illustrating emotions, van Hout illustrates verbs like "fight" and "cuddle" and "bore." The words in this book feel a little less concrete to me, or maybe the illustrations feel like they aren't quite as perfect...I'm not sure. But even so, it's a quiet, imaginative book that I think a lot of children and adults alike will really enjoy. I eagerly await whatever van Hout does next!

[Joella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book goes along with Mies van Hout's book Happy that I like so much. It is just one simple word and an illustration that portrays that part of friendship. Some bits are the good parts (such as play or cuddle) and other bits are the frustrating parts (such as tease or fight). But it shows that these monsters know all about the different emotions and parts of friendship.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just barely discovered this author's book "Happy" (and read it in storytime this week!). So it was fun to read this book in the similar style. I really enjoy the pictures and how expressive she is able to make them in chalk drawings. I adore the "cuddle" picture.

10/16/13: Used in my Friends theme. It worked, but not as well as "Happy." Still, with the smaller group it's OK when I have to pause to explain what "embarrass" means. Good to teach one or two new words or concepts to them, especially with such cute pictures. They liked the book, they just didn't get as in to it was the other.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nearly wordless picture book showcasing monsters navigating friendships.

Each page includes one word which describes the action of the vibrant artwork set against black pages.

The monsters aren't terrifying which makes this a title that would be appropriate for preschoolers and the nearly wordless nature of this book makes it possible for pre-readers to describe the action of the text based on their reading of the pictures and any stories the action might encourage in their imaginations.