Two Sides

by Polly Ho-Yen, Binny Talib (Illustrator)

Lula and Lenka are best friends and total opposites – Lula is a Dog Person and Lenka is a Cat Person; Lula is super messy and Lenka is neat and tidy; Lula likes talking to people and Lenka likes watching people – but together they make the perfect pair. Until The Day that Everything Goes Wrong … and suddenly the girls are no longer friends. What started as a day like any other ends with Lula and Lenka ignoring each other and sitting on opposite sides of the classroom. As the days go by Lula makes a new friend who talks almost as much as she does, while Lenka just plays on her own. In spite of feeling lonely, neither one is prepared to listen or forgive … or to say sorry. Will it be this way forever?

A thoughtful story exploring friendship and the importance of listening and keeping an open mind.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Strong Female

96 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2019

About the author

Polly Ho-Yen was born in Northampton and brought up in Buckinghamshire. She studied English at Birmingham University before working in publishing for several years.

Her first novel, Boy in the Tower, published in July 2014 by Random House Children's Publishers, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Her second novel Where Monsters Lie was published in 2016 and her third novel, Fly Me Home, was published in 2017. Both of these novels were also nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

She now writes full-time and lives in Bristol with her husband.

Reviews

[Mr Bramley]

A wonderfully illustrated and written story of two girls and their friendship after a big argument.

The book does an amazing job at expressing their emotions and explaining feelings to children. The dual narrative works well to explain how the other person feels in an argument too.

[Dan Northover]

Loved this - the dual narrators work really well and the illustrations are beautiful throughout. A lovely book exploring friendships and would no doubt lead to useful discussions around how to deal with friendships.

[UWE Primary English Team]

Loved this - the dual narrators work really well and the illustrations are beautiful throughout. A lovely book exploring friendships and would no doubt lead to useful discussions around how to deal with friendships.

[Suzanne Bhargava]

A really sweet story with lovely illustrations, whose telling of school bus and playground dramas ring eerily true to real life.

I read it to my grade 3s in two sessions and they absolutely loved it.

[Vonprice]

Absolutely adorable highly illustrated early chapter book about friendship. You can read my full review here: http://vsviewfromthebookshelves.home....

[Aina Hilmi]

Kisah persahabatan antara dua orang rakan. Sama usia, berbeza perwatakan. Seorang jenis teratur, seorang lagi tidak. Seorang suka kemas-kemas, seorang lagi asal boleh sahaja.

Macam mana dua insan berbeza ini boleh jadi rapat?
Akhirnya tercetus juga pertengkaran yang membawa kepada konflik.

Penulis bijak menulis dalam perkataan yang menepati jadi saya kira anak-anak yang membaca buku ini dapat mengenal pasti masalah dan cara menanganinya.

Yalah, kadang-kadang cerita punya pengaruh yang besar kepada pembaca.

[Arg]

I would receremend this to a friend because we are all difrent except me and jediah

[Martha Gilman]

I like that Lula and Lenka are different. Lula likes summer and has a dog and Lenka likes winter and has a cat.

[Lindsay]

Nice story of best friends, differences, falling out, and making up. The illustrations are absolutely lovely, such a cute style and so vibrant.

[Shatiel]

È sempre difficile chiedere scusa.

[Frieda]

4.5

[Eliza Merrick]

These are friends Lula and Lanka. They fall out but at the end they get back friends.

[Hazel]

A sweet story with good lessons for children on friendship, emotions, reconciliation, and seeing the beauty in our differences.