Friends

by Eric Carle

From the creator of the all-time classic VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR comes a sweetly resonant story about the power of friendship.

When a best friend moves away, it can be painful for the child who is left behind. But the spunky boy in this upbeat story makes up his mind to find his missing playmate. Young readers will cheer on the boy as he braves currents, climbs mountains, and dashes through rain before, finally, reuniting with his friend. A story alive with love and perseverance, brightened with vibrant art and Eric Carle's trademark fostering of imagination.

This deeply personal story for Eric is dedicated to his longtime wife, Bobbie, and it is their bond that inspired the book. For anyone who has ever scaled mountains to be with the one he loves, or for anyone who has simply known the love and joy of a great friendship, this book will strike a resonant chord.

“This story of love and determination is illustrated with Carle's extraordinary signature artwork. For anyone who would cross rivers and scale mountains for a beloved friend, this warmhearted story will create an emotional response. Young readers will learn the value of friendship and its many challenges.” — School Library Journal
 
“Often dynamic and quite beautiful, these colorful illustrations of the river, the meadow, and so on are abstract in style and show up well from a distance. A picture-book tribute to the strength of childhood friendships.” — Booklist
 
"The images are beautiful and evocative." — Publishers Weekly

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Adventure, Love

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2013

About the author

Eric Carle was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies. Carle's career as an illustrator and children's book author accelerated after he collaborated on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Carle illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
In 2003, the American Library Association awarded Carle the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award), a prize for writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U.S. who have made lasting contributions to the field. Carle was also a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.

Reviews

[Mender · Rating 1 out of 5]

We are moving house soon. Matt just finished kinder. He would be missing his kinder friends even if we weren't moving. Now it seems like we'll be on the far side of the world, all thirty minutes drive away.

Turns out in this book a kid's friend moves away and he misses her. Great! That's exactly where we are! So what happens? The kid leaves home, swims across a giant river, climbs a mountain and slides down the other side, sleeps on clouds and finds his friend again and live happily ever after and get married!

Say what?

So, if my kid is missing his friends, he should go on a journey to find them? And if he climbs high things, god knows he can just slide down the other side, it's the up that's the hard part! Fuck you book, just fuck you. There's a photo at the end of the author and his friend from when he was about Matt's age. She moved away. He never saw her again. BECAUSE THAT IS HOW IT HAPPENS. Tell that fucking story. How you miss them and wonder what happened to them, but live is big and complex and if you ever do catch up again it's amazing and fabulous and you have nothing in common but it was still nice.

This crap is all about not letting go of the past, and by overcoming unrealistic fantasy obstacles everything will turn out perfect!

Thanks for the help, kids book.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very simple but moving picture book, splendidly illustrated by Eric Carle (the author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" -- this is his latest work). The epilogue made me tear up. Children probably won't appreciate this one as much as adults, but I've got to say this is the first time in my adult life that I've wanted to add a children's picture book to my book collection, as far as I can remember.

As adults, we believe we have a deeper understanding than children do of how difficult friendship and love can sometimes be: marriages often end in divorce, and friendships and love affairs frequently break up due to obstacles deemed insurmountable. That the hero of Friends refuses to see the many obstacles threatening his friendship as insurmountable, despite the fact that he is only a little boy, is a fact that should put all of us grown-ups to shame.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy discovering books by Eric Carle that I haven't read yet.

This little gem is unusual, but I can see how it might appeal to young children: the narrative is short and the illustrations, focusing mainly on scenic views, are gorgeous.

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to us by Nicolette (7). She loves her friends in her special needs class. She calls school her “friends.” She was so excited to “read” this aloud. She said “amen” at the end. #downsyndromerocks

[Emily Matview · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eric Carle is the man (“The Very Hungry Caterpillar," amirite?) but this one was a little weird. Carle’s distinct art is as good as ever and I like the idea of a book about a friend moving away, but the execution was off here. The wish fulfillment of finding that friend and how it played out here was a little too weird for me.

[RJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute and the simplified illustrations (simplified even for Carle!) would be a great conversation starter in storytime (what do you see here? Rain? What makes you think of rain - the color? The shapes?) but maaaan I'm bummed that it ends with little kids getting married because I am pretty definitely not going to use a book that ends on that note

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very simple story about friendship that is basically a showcase for Carle's special tissue paper collage artwork, at its best here.

[Meandering Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful book from Eric Carle. Great for kids, and also for adults accompanied by a nice whisky nightcap. ;)

[Melissa Swistek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carle once again knocks the illustrations out of the park. The story is sweet and relatable to kids.

[Erin Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was about two friends who loved to play together. Then one day, one of the friends moved away. So, the other friend went searching for his friend. Once he found her they played together again, and then got married.
I really honestly did not care for this book. It was so cute, and the illustrations were well done, but that plot twist at the end? I thought I was seeing things when I first read it! I would never read this to my students. It's awkward, and the illustrations don't match the words like it should have in this case.

[Cheryl]

Obviously this will work for some. It can validate the perspective that "I would climb mountains for you" and that marriage is known as the code word for a commitment to be friends forever. It can be a book to get lost in, as one gets used to the idea that they'll never see their friend again. The art is, of course, stunning... I like that most pages are just scenery, from the pov of the boy on the quest (I esp. love the forest).

But I'm not feeling it. At least not today.

I'll leave it unrated.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I get older, I appreciate Eric Carle's art more. Previously, I will admit to have been kind of, "But there's no THERE there." No, but now I am appreciating the textures and the color combinations and the simplicity of the stories. Except there's one heck of a surprise ending on this one. And then they... what?!

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 the story is very straightforward with a rather abrupt jump to the end. The art is typically excellent. The choice not to include the journeying boy in the landscape scenes was a little weird thought I can see how it made for better individual page illustrations than if he had to be included in each one.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be a wonderful book for storytime. I look forward to having the children act out all of the movements involved in finding the friend. They can swim, climb and float on clouds – all while enjoying Carle’s colorful illustrations.

[KyLee Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was okay. It was a bit weird and I wasn't too sure about it. I was a bit thrown off by the marriage in this book. I don't really have much to say about this book other than I didn't enjoy it at all.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is okay (it uses some good concept words and has an adventure element), but I think it’s odd that they get married in the end.

[Sunah Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy spends the time to play with a friend all the time. One day, she leaves him, and the boy decides to find her.
The front flap of the dust jacket provided general interpretations of this picture book. As it was indicated on the front flap, the illustrations showed the shift of the styles from the conventional illustrations to the abstract illustrations. What I loved was the abstract illustrations while the male protagonist set a journey to find his friend. Readers could use their imagination of the journeys because the abstract illustrations did not tell the readers many details but would stimulate their imaginations. Moreover, the theme of friendship and confronting separations must be significant issues children would get through as a member of the community. Children would necessarily experience leaving friends because of family issues or experience to let friends move away. Dealing with the separation of close friends is a huge issue for children. They might dream to go on a journey to find their friends as the story in this book said. In reality, it must be difficult to find friends who moved away to other communities and countries, but at least, the readers could feel comfortable by the fact that they are not the only ones who miss friends that moved away and dream of reuniting with the friends.

[Jala Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text-to-Self Connection

I enjoyed reading this story because it reminds me of some of my good friends that I grew up with and lost contact with them while I was young. My biological mother became very ill and I was taken away by the court system. I was moved to another town far away from where I lived. I missed all of my familiar surroundings and most importantly my friends. When I became a teenager, I begin to look for them but couldn't find them. However, I never gave up! As an adult, I have been able to find every last one of them over the years and we are still very close as we were when were young. My closes friend is now moving her and her new family from Pennsylvania to Georgia just like I have, just so we can be closer once more.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son's closest friend for the first 5+ years of his life now lives a bit away and he doesn't see her often. This is a very true way of expressing how he feels... that he would traverse to the ends of the Earth to be able to hang out with her again whenever he wants. For a child of this age, the ending of marriage may seem strange to adults, but to my son (who truly just sees this girl as a close friend), the idea of it all ending in marriage did not seen odd at all. The adults here who think it sounds awkward should ask a child in this age bracket how they felt....I think they would find it gives them a sense of validation for those feelings of loss.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Friends
Author: Eric Carle
Illustrator : Eric Carle
Date Published: 2013
Age Appropriateness: K-3
Summary: The friend in the story moved away, it can often be hard for the friend who was left behind to cope. Though he does not let her moving away get him down, instead, he goes on an adventure to be reunited with her!
Review: This was such a cute story. There is so much power in friendship, and it is often taken for granted and we don't realize it until its too late. It is never to far, and never to hard to reach someone that means so much to you.

[Nicolás Guasaquillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Había una vez dos amigos inseparables. Siempre jugaban juntos y corrían y bailaban y se contaban secretos. Pero un día, el niño se quedó solo. Su amiga se había ido a vivir lejos de ahí.

—La echo tanto de menos —decía él—, pero donde quiera que esté voy a encontrarla.

Ese niño soy yo en Siracusa, New York. Ambos teníamos tres años. Cuando cumplí seis, nos fuimos a vivir lejos de allí. Nunca más volvimos a vernos. Pienso muchas veces en mi amiga de hace tanto tiempo, y me pregunto qué fue de ella.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was growing up, my dad always told me that no boy just wants to be your friend. Well, this book proved that right.

Jack borrowed it from the Oxford Public Library. I picked it because he likes Eric Carle books, and it seemed like a sweet story. And it is a sweet story, but not what I expected. Jack still enjoyed it though, especially the pages where the kids were playing together and the pages that were basically all bright swatches of color.

[Annie Donette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journey, scenes of nature, onomatopoeia. A bit like “Bear Hunt”, then, only without the panache. Carle’s bright brush strokes and evocative mixed media never fail to delight. The concept and story are less captivating, although there is a nice message about friendship in there somewhere. Nothing groundbreaking, but sweet enough.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end marriage is awkward. Sets a precedent for friendships and friend zone behavior. Then again my son’s friend Walter says he’ll marry my son because he loooooves him. So maybe I’m preaching based on nothing.

On the other hand the last page explanation was sweet paired with the visuals of adventure. The illustrations are marvelous as usual.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the illustrations, and descriptions used in this book. The actual story is a little thin on plot, but younger children probably won't notice or care. The adult part of me wants to know why the friend left, how long the journey took that in the end, they were old enough to marry. I don't think children will be bothered by any of this.

[Melissa Lorenzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations of the book establish the mood of the story. The medium of art used in the story elicits a calming feeling and supports the message of friendship. Young children will enjoy this simple and colorful story. The characters of the story avoid race stereotypes. I think all children no matter race or gender can relate to the characters and the overall story of the book.

[Jessalyn Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've been working our way through the library's collection of Eric Carle books. This one is very simple, but still sweet. The pages are illustrated with patterns moreso than pictures, so it can take a bit more effort to hold my toddler's attention than the typical Carle book. Overall I did still like this one.

[Tabitha Cassidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was simple. Although the story was cute, it had an ending appropriate for a much older audience. However, the illustrations in this book were fantastic and followed the journey of the young boy very well! This would be a great interactive read-aloud because there are many opportunities to ask questions or look at details in the art.

[Canette Arille · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about friends who spent time together. One day a girl disappeared, and a boy decides to find her. He looks for her, and finds her. He marries her.
This book teaches children how to count numbers to 10. And what you can do for the person you love. The book is inspired by the author's relationship with his wife

[Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about two friends who play together at recess. I can use this book to have students do an artwork of friendship and adventure. This book has glossy pages, page breaks, full page bleed, and motif. This reminds me of making news friends at different schools in the past.