My Friend!

by Taye Diggs, Shane W. Evans (Illustrations)

A picture book about what it means to be a friend from Taye Diggs and Shane W. Evans, the writer/artist team that brought us Chocolate Me! and Mixed Me.

Friends lend a hand when they can
They help blend and mend
it doesn't depend on whether you're doing wrong or right.
A friend can send or lend a shining light to a situation.
Add some bright to any frustration.
On pretty much any occasion.

Two best friends do almost everything together. They have each other's backs. But when one friend sees the other treating someone unkindly, he steps in to show that everyone wants to be treated as they would treat others.

From the popular picture book team―longtime friends themselves―comes a real and rhythmic look at friendship that any child will relate to in My Friend!

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Fiction, School, African American, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2021

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has a good message, but the writing is kind of difficult to follow and I'm not a fan of the artwork.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable, the unique voice: There's a strong sense of fun, although this isn't a comical storybook.

Impressive to me is how the picturebook-appropriate short words are used in a witty way. A rap way. My favorite sample goes:

"Jumpin' off the bus, don't get crushed -- the opposite of hushed."

UNSENTIMENTALLY, THIS STORY TEACHES SOMETHING IMPORTANT

Not that I'll say what. No spoiler from me, no no!

But I will share how I read this near the end:

"A friend can send or lend a shining light to a situation,
add some bright to any frustration."

Superb!

[Lisa Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like the way it was written, but the message was nice. Illustrations are unique. I like them.

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

Two best friends celebrate their friendship with a secret handshake, playground games, making music, and holding one another accountable.

First, I love the scene where one of our lead characters holds his friend accountable for purposely tripping another kid in gym class. That isn't okay, and this book shows a great example of how to call out a friend.

But, while I love the vibrancy of the illustrations, I am concerned about the skin color of the girl who appears of Asian descent (during the Chinese Checkers game scene (the only scene where this character appears in full (which also raises a question for me), though that skin tone is used elsewhere for hands reaching into the scene, for example)). The coloring is clearly yellow (with a white kid across from her with distinctly paler skin). I think much of this is due to the vibrancy of the color palette used throughout, but her skin color is really similar to the color of the Chinese Checkers board and even her bright yellow dress. While her eyes appear to be of the same shape as other kids on the page, her skin color makes me concerned. Yellow skin on Asian characters isn't okay.

[Candice Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diggs and Evans have created a story for children (6-8) to understand how we speak up and out against people, including our friends, that do harm to others. That is the overall message I received from reading the book. There were only two pages dedicated to this message and I wanted more.

Things I like about the picture book:
1. The clear diversity in characters on the page.
2. Two friends worked together on the actual book as a unit.
3. The secret handshake

Things I didn't really like:
1. Rhyming words/rap style rhythm
2. The location of how the words and sentences are fixed on the page--somewhat confusing if you are reading left to right or up to down.
3. I'm not a big fan of the artwork.

Things I'm unsure of here:
1. Are we supposed to discuss race here?
2. I'm unsure of the gender of the character with the tan skin and afro. Is the character female or male?
3. Why is there so much else going on outside of the "main plot point." Is it about friendship or bullying?

The right kind of teacher/instructor can find a way to make dialogue and conversation stronger. Perhaps, the students will be able to recognize themselves through the characters and even learn how not to discriminate and willfully make fun of others.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of this creative team will quickly recognize the two best friends in this picture book as they go about their day and deal with some challenges in school. Relying on rhyming text and full-color pages, the book shows two boys with similar experiences, each being coaxed to brush their teeth and comb their hair, one on one page and one across the way. After they meet and greet through hand slaps, they acknowledge that "Mine is kinda chocolate. His is kinda tan" (unpaged), a matter of fact awareness that their skin colors are not the same. But the book takes a different turn than might be expected when one friend needs to call out the other for his mistreatment of another classmate. He does so in a firm but gentle way, something that I appreciated since all too often books about young friends depict them as having fun and supporting one another but never really showing this side of friendship when a friend is behaving badly. The brightly-colored illustrations and the positive message will make this one appealing to most young readers, and teachers or parents or caregivers will want to use it as a read aloud and encouragement to guide others about how to treat their peers.

[Bleuz00m · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, vibrantly-illustrated story about two young friends who care about each other and help each other. Key pivot point is when one of them witnesses the other friend being unkind to someone else ( bullying) and gently calls that friend out. With words that are buoyed by their obviously long-standing friendship, the scold is gentle but effective and respected, because they were friends to begin with.

Good lessons for pre-K to age 8 kids conveyed in engaging language and imagery: to learn how to negotiate a conflict without violence, to communicate displeasure without shaming and to reinforce and enrich a friendship.

This has become a great book for Sunday school, too,

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-1st grade
Identity: Black author and illustrator

Amazing artwork that celebrates the friendship between two boys and holding a friend accountable for being mean to another person.

The spread dedicated to the boys slapping hands, the rapping beat of the text, the mixed media illustrations, a celebration of friendship while showing that it's okay to talk with your friend about being mean--it's all so good! My one concern is that the events of the day feel like it's in warpspeed and there may be one-too-many locations. But I think kids can keep up with these two buddies.

[Margo Tanenbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations by Shane W. Evans, and enjoyed the text by Taye Diggs. Not good for storytime because the kids in the book appear to be older elementary or even middle school (there is reference to gym class). The rhythmic text reminds me of rap music. The book has a nice message, but the age of the kids in the book doesn't seem to correspond to the art style and the text. Might be a good read-aloud for elementary school teachers to share with their classes.

[Set · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now, this book makes no sense. Her father is black and her mother is white so she is mixed race but she has a black friend and she considers that her hand is chocolate and his is tan... I don't understand, I am seriously confused. Wouldn't her hand be tan and his hand chocolate? I also find it an insult when they replace brunette hair on white people with blue hair. White brunettes, especially girls, are already censured and erased from modern books enough as it is.

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations a lot. I like how the book celebrates friendship and how when the one friend is being a bit of a bully, the other friend stands up and basically says "that's not okay." I wasn't a huge fan of the writing. The plot also confused me a little. Were they at school? on a field trip? It seemed like things hopped around a little.

[Lannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So lyrical, I was practically rapping halfway through! Got some street cred, at least from my kids lol. This fun lyrical book has good beats, and a great message about sticking up for the little guy, even when it’s up against someone you call a friend. Really enjoyed this read, and a good lesson for kids and adults alike.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hip story about friendship with lots of color and action in the illustrations. Some of the slang talk may go over the heads of little ones. I liked that the book modeled standing up to bullying behavior, even if the person doing the bullying is your friend.

[Hannah Ogilvie]

i put this in my text set about friendships and communities around you and everyone. not the most memorable out of the ones i used in the set, but still set an example of friends and their experiences/adventures together

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong picture book with great themes, especially standing up to friends who may be doing something wrong. The text flows well out loud. Some of the pictures didn't correspond with the text, but I think it doesn't detract overall from the story.

[Ersa S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had some issues with the continuity of the story while reading but enjoyed the overall message of the book. I enjoyed the jazz-like feel to the rhyming scheme used to tell the story and would recommend this book to an older age group between 6 or 7 years old.

[Lisa D]

Loved it! Cute book about friendship

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for kids who love stories about friendships! This picture book is great- written and illustrated by real longtime friends.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two friends spend the day together at school and aren't afraid to tell each other when one is acting like a fool.

[Michele Knott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love seeing the black joy in this picture book about friendship.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, rhyming romp celebrating friendship.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the rhythm of the sentences, quite different than most children’s books. And I liked the way the message unfolded.

[Shanita Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to count this book as one of my reads since my 4 year old had me read it multiple times. Does that even count? 😂

[Danni Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how the illustrations and the text felt musical. It felt like they were trying to create a music video in a book form.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a positive message, but the perspective shifts are very confusing. It's hard to tell who is speaking in the first person voice at different moments, and to follow the story's events.

[Stacy Natal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about friendship told through rap. The illustrations didn't draw the kids in.

[Nanny B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rap about friendship

[Lovee Lonii · Rating 4 out of 5]

*listened with Hendrix*

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute