Very Best (almost) Friends

by Paul B. Janeczko, Christine Davenier (Illustrator)

A joyful collection of poems and playful illustrations celebrates the good and bad things about friendship, giving, loneliness, and love, by such authors as Myra Cohn Livingston, John Ciardi, Colin McNaughton, and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Genres: Poetry

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 1999

About the author

Paul B. Janeczko is a poet and teacher and has edited more than twenty award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including STONE BENCH IN AN EMPTY PARK, LOOKING FOR YOUR NAME, SEEING THE BLUE BETWEEN, and A POKE IN THE I, which was an American Library Association Notable Book.

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the illustrations by Christine Davenier in this book. They very much reminded me of childhood friendships, and their ups and downs.

I really liked a few of the poems, but some were mediocre, I thought. Also, almost as many seemed to be about enemies, childhood cruelty between friends, and loneliness, as they were about friendship.

Paul B. Janeczko was actually the collector of these poems.

The authors of these 24 short poems are: Dean Myers, Myra Cohn Livingston, John Ciardi (x 2), Gwendolyn Brooks, X.J. Kennedy, Judith Viorst, Lois Lenski, Jeanne Steig, Richard J. Margolis, Nikki Grimes, Charlotte Zolotow, Jim Daniels, Colin McNaughton, Kalli Dakos, Paul B. Janeczko (okay, he did contribute one poem), Nancy Willard, Elizabeth Jennings, Barbara Esbensen, Zaro Weil, Naomi Shihab Nye, Betsy Hearne, and Karla Kuskin. Many of these are wonderful authors (I'll have to look up the ones unknown to me) but in my opinion most of these poems aren't on par with their other, more well known, work; a few of them are very good. It seems as though they all were already published by their authors in other books. The permissions for them to be complied in this book are listed at the end of the book.

This book is over ten years old and it looks as though I'm the first Goodreads member to shelve it. I didn't think it was that great and I guess I'm not shocked that it's not well known, but it's a sufficiently worthy children's poetry book that I'm surprised that it hasn't been read and rated by at least a few of the many members here at Goodreads. I happened to see it on a shelf at the library and, while it didn't wow me as I'd hoped, it was worth reading for a few of the poems and for the illustrations. I enjoy stories about childhood friendships, and the illustrations and a very few of the poems, did well at communicating friendship stories.

[Ita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are charming (illustrations by Chrstine Davenier) and most of the 24 poems are peripherally about friendship. A few were not and they were a bit disturbing (bullying, hooligans).

What appealed to me is that most of the poems were not treacly. Some were wistful, a few sad, and only a few sweet.

[Hannah Dull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: 3-4

This was a fun grouping of poems about friendship. It didn't necessarily have a plot to it, because there were so many things going on. But, I still think it would be a good book to use when talking about poetry. I like that it used a lot of different styles such as alliteration, rhythm, and rhyme!

[Debi Cates]

Oops, I picked another book of poetry that is probably not the target age for my Littles.

Only a few poems seemed to invoke my own childhood experiences. I was hoping to enjoy poems about "very best friends," however the criteria must have been simply kids and other kids, including NOT best friends.

[Rachel Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: 3-4

There are not many collections of poetry in the children's literature world. This is one of the few, and it was a very good read. Friendship is a great topic for children, and one they need to learn about. The illustrations were cute and the individual poems were well written and unique. I liked how there were different types of poems in this book. I also liked the small size of the book itself. If a poetry unit was being taught in a classroom, I think this book could be of great help.

[Libby Erwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Best (Almost) Friends by Paul B. Janeckzo is a compilation of short poems revolving around friendship and the trials and tribulations that accompany it when you are a child. I did like some aspects of this book, but I was kind of confused by the relationship of some of these poems to the title of the book. Initially, I thought it was going to surround friendship, or a lack there of, is all poems. But some are talking about different forms of friendship that I did not think of before, such as relationships with pets or relationships being in a street gang. Although I liked the coloring and style of the illustrations, I think they could be more descriptive and give a better insight into each poem.

There are a few different situations that you could use this book within a classroom environment. First, if there was ever an issue or problem among a friend group, if you pulled out this book and read "To You" or "I Still have Everything You Gave Me", that could help friends realize that their problems were not that big in the grand scheme of things. Third grade is a common time for students to become very protective of their friends and bullying becomes a larger issue, so if you could pull out this book every once in a while, it could be very beneficial. I would suggest reading this book to third of fourth grade kids, the language is somewhat easy but it is still more complex than what is readable for younger aged students. The poetry in this book ranges from rhyming and rhythmic to free verse, so this could be another opportunity to reintroduce different fundamental elements and characteristics of poetry.

[Hannah Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personal reaction: I thought this collection of poetry was interesting because it claims to be 'Poems of Friendship,' but actually seems to be more about enemies or people you don't like. This irony made it hard for me to understand and engage with the material.

Purpose: This book would be good to read aloud to 1st to 3rd graders. There is one particular poem 'Toby Twits Tina' that has an abundance of alliteration and would serve as a great introduction as to what alliteration is. You could read the poem and then ask the students what is similar between the words in the poems and have them discover the concept on their own so they have better retention.

[Kelly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of poems about friendship, enemies, and even some love poems. I wasn't impressed by the "hate" poems, I wouldn't use this in a classroom.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book, but the poems are not very good. The illustrations, however, are very cool. Each one tells a story.

[Jodie Denman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this! Between the illustrations and the fun poems, this is a great book!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great illustrations. Poor poetry.

[Cheryl]

I've not ever seen a single one of these poems before. So that's good.
But I did not like very many of them.
And I know there are parents out there who would not want their kids reading some of them.
And I did not like the illustrations.
Can't rate; sorry.