My Best Friend

by Mary Ann Rodman, E.B. Lewis

It's summer, and Lily spends lots of time at the community pool, where she sees Tamika. Lily decides that Tamika will be her new best friend. Only, Tamika already has a best friend, and no matter how hard Lily tries, she can't seem to impress Tamika. But without Tamika, who will be Lily's best friend? With beautiful watercolor art and poignant text, this author and illustrator create a timeless story about the difficulties of finding a friend.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Fiction, Cultural, African American, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mary Ann Rodman, a former school media specialist and university librarian, is the author of First Grade Stinks!, Yankee Girl, and My Best Friend. She has received both the Ezra Jack Keats Award for Outstanding New Picture Book Writer and the Charlotte Zolotow Award. Rodman holds a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College.

Reviews

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaker about a 1st grader who REALLY wants to be best friends with a 2nd grader at the pool. Great to remember what it felt like when 1 year of age was enough to separate a total baby from a jaded sophisticate.

[Emily Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Best Friend tells the story of first-grader, Lily who becomes enthralled by 2nd-grader Tamika at the community pools. Lily has her sights set on becoming Tamika's best friend, envisioning all the fun they could have together. Despite Lily's efforts, Tamika has other friends who occupy her attention. Lily becomes frustrated and puts all her effort into befriending Tamika, which causes her to become oblivious to another girl at the pool who actually wants to play with Lily. The watercolor illustrations are very realistic and depict the story elegantly. Both the lines and colors used in this picture book are soft and light, perfectly portraying the summer season by the poolside. This book addresses themes that teach young readers that not everybody will want to be your friend and that quality friendship may lie in unexpected places. This is a wonderful book that would be great to read aloud in an elementary classroom, or to have on the shelves of a classroom library.

[Eunice · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My Best Friend," written by Mary Ann Rodman and illustrated by E.B. Lewis, is a story about friendship that every child can relate to. The book features Lewis' beautifully painted watercolor illustrations of African American characters. This book is appropriate for students in kindergarten - second grade. I would use this book as a read aloud for children in the younger grades to teach about friendship. I would also add it to my bookshelf for students to read independently; I have not yet come across a primary book that features realistically diverse illustrations of African American characters - take for example the illustrations in "The Shortcut" by Donald Crews. This book will also serve as a mirror for little black girls who don the same hairstyles as the little girls in the book - Lilly has pressed hair which she wears in a half-up, half-down ponytail and Tamika wears cornrows going straight back with brightly colored barettes on the ends. This book is an Ezra Jack Keats award winner and has been reviewed by School Library Journal.

[Sarah Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a young African-American girl named Lily who wants desperately to be best friends with another girl, Tamika. These two girls along with many others meet and spend time together at the neighborhood playground and swimming pool. Lily looks up to Tamika and tries to impress her because she is older, popular, and possesses things that Lily wants. However, Tamika is not interested in Lily and even makes fun of her because she is younger; yet, another sweet girl named Keesha seems to think that Lily is a great friend. Even though Keesha is very nice, Lily does not see her as a close friend because she is focused on winning over Tamika. Lily gains some new perspective throughout the story about friendship. The major themes in this book are growing up, and friendship. This book could be used to teach children the reality of friendship, and how we can find the people that make us better individuals. Some friends do not get along for whatever reason, and that is ok. It would be great to discuss how "fitting in" does not necessarily make you happy. This book targets an older audience, perhaps going through a similar childhood friendship situation. The illustrations in this book really captured by attention and I believe they make the story come to life, targeting emotions that add to the dialogue.

[Kelsey Rippe · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Best Friend is a story of six year old girl Lily who is determined to be friends with seven year old Tamika. The only problem is that Tamika ignores Lily and plays with Shanice, who picks on Lilly. Lily tries everything to get Tamika’s attention: buying a new bathing suit that looks like Tamika, learning how to dive to impress Tamika, and sharing her popsicle with Tamika. Readers will easily relate at the struggle of finding and maintaining friendships. This would be a great book for the classroom to teach about not just finding any friendship, but valuable friendships. Valuable friends accept and love you for the way you are.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is kind of a strange book...a girl inexplicably wants to be best friends (not friends, BEST friends) with a girl who is a year older and wants nothing to do with her. There's a strange, mixed message for readers here.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Best Friend: My Best Friend is a book written by Mary Ann Rodman and illustrated by E.B. Lewis. It tells the story of Lily who is a young girl who goes to the pool every wednesday for playgroup at the neighborhood pool. At the beginning of the story Lily believes that her best friend is a girl named Tamika. Lily looks up to Tamika as she is slightly older and bigger, she even admires the way she dresses and does her hair. When Tamika ignores Lily for her other friends, Lily goes to express her hurt feelings to her mother but she doesn't quite understand. To try to win Tamika over as a friend Lily wears the same swimsuit that Tamika wore last week. However this week Tamika is wearing a different suit and is not impressed. A different girl named Keesha compliments Lily’s new swimsuit and is nice to her but she doesn’t care because she just wants to be friends with Tamika. The next week Tamika’s other friends aren’t there so her and Lily play and have a great time, but the week after when Tamika’s friends are back things go back to Tamika ignoring Lily. Lily slowly begins to realize that Tamika might not be the best person to be friends with but she is not convinced. In her last effort to win Tamika over, Lily learns how to dive into the pool with her Dad so that she can impress Tamika the next week. When Lily goes to show Tamika her newly learned diving skills she is not watching and continues to ignore Lily. Kesha notices her dive and is very impressed. Kesha and Lily begin to talk and play games, they even share their popsicles with each other. Lily comes to the conclusion that even though Keesha is not as old or big as Tamika she cares about Lily and that is what makes a good friend. This book really teaches the values of true kindness and friendship. Using it in the classroom could be very beneficial is the way of teaching about how to treat one another and how to have genuine friendships. To not ignore those who wish to be your friend while, on the flip side, being able to accept if someone doesn’t want to be your friend.

[Rell · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 7 year and I read this book, my daughter said that she would give the book 3 stars, I however would give it 2. In reading the book it seemed borderline compulsive and obsessive with trying to have someone to be your friend.

I understand that children have the desire to want to make friends but this went a little far. I especially did not like the ending nor did my daughter. I think as a parent we should explain to our children that when someone is being mean and ignoring you that pushing harder and being more adamant will not make them like you more and that it’s ok to walk away from someone that’s not showing a genuine interest in being your friend.

I wouldn’t recommend the book but it did open the doors for me to teach my daughter that some people are mean and that it’s ok to make new friends and walk away from others.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a kid can be rough. Our narrator in the book is Lily, a six-year-old who desperately wants to be best friend with Tamika. The only problem is Tamika already has a friend and isn't interested in Lily. Lily tries everything from a new swimsuit, sharing popsicles and learning to dive to try and get Tamika to be her best friend, but nothing works. There is another little girl who is nice, and who is fun to play with, and eventually Lily decides she will play with this other little girl until Tamika comes around.

[Hannah Dull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Grade Level: PreK-2

I really enjoyed this book. The main character learned a valuable lesson about friendship and I think it would be cool to see if the students caught it as well. A little girl has to learn a lesson, and the story never explicitly says it, but as a reader, you can see what it happening. It is something that most kids do have to figure out, so it was kind of cool reading it and resonating with the main character. I will recommend this to my students.

[Alisha Saucedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My best friends is a wonderful story which teaches us all that our wants may blind us from the good that is right in front of us. I felt touched by this story as I struggled with wanting friends who did not want me back and I feel this is a relatable story line. The reader connects with this sense of trying to impress others and guess their standards. I love that this book features black characters and diverse names. We don’t often see literature were all the characters are of color. I love the messege and relatable nature of this book!

[Heather Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Best Friend is a great look at the difficulty of making friends. Lily really wants Tamika to be her friend, and knows that if she can just wear the right swimsuit, say the right things, and show Tamika how much fun they can have, that Lily can have Tamika as her friend. But you can't make someone be your friend and sometimes your real friends are right in front of you, but you don't know it yet.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily was wanting to become best friends with a little girl Tamika. She tried everything she knew possible to do to become friends with her, from wearing the same swimsuit as her to learning tricks in the pool. Tamika never took interest in becoming friends with Lily but Lily made an unsuspected friendship with another little girl. This can show students to be open minded going into things. Also this is a good book to use when making predictions and teaching transition words.

[Madison Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I was having a problem with friendship in my class, or someone being left out of play time I would introduce this book. I think that this book does a great job at showing students how hard some people try to be your friend, and how others are just nice and encouraging. I hope that my classroom is a fun and kind environment. I hope that this book will show some students that sometimes your best friend is just sitting right next to you, and that you do not have to try as hard to make friends.

[Heather Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars all around! This book is well written and it tackles a topic to which most kids can relate: the desire to befriend someone who isn't interested in making a new friend. The artwork is top-notch. Really beautiful! Although I loved My Best Friend, I think it's a book that requires discussion. Making friends is a complicated topic, and it's important to help children understand that good friends are those who like us just the way we are. That's the point of the book, of course, but it's still worth talking about.

[Mely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aw, this was sad to read. I felt bad for Lily. I almost didn't want to finish reading it to my daughter. I thought the moral of the story could have been demonstrated better. I feel like this book could potentially have a negative impact on young children's confidence. Other than that, I thought the watercolor illustrations were amazing.

[Krislyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like this book too much. I am worried that this book will give children the impression that they have to be friends with children their own age. I think that there are many benefits to having friends of varying ages, and that this book may cause children to limit themselves to having friends their own age.

[Libby Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

So relevant for girls who are 6-8 years old. This book captures the budding cattiness that seems to come so naturally to girls at this age. But it’s addressed in just the right manner and shows that no matter how you’re treated, you can always make a friend if you’re willing to look outside yourself and also take care of yourself.

Highly recommended for moms and daughters 5-9 years old

[Courtney Gaddis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sweet and heartwarming in all the right ways. The illustrations were beautiful and showed a great story of friends. There was a great range of representation in this book and just told the story of some girls at the pool, something normal for all students to relate to. I think this would be a great book to read aloud to talk about friendships and inclusion.

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one I think kids can relate to- even if it's tough and we don't want that for them. One I will be adding to my classroom library because I have some students every year who sadly go through this.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a universal experience, interpreted with Rodman's perfect narration and the luminous, emotive, photo-realistic art of E. B. Lewis.
Really, if this classic gem is new to you, take a look. It is everfresh.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily goes to the pool every Wednesday and desperately wants to be friends with Tamika (who is a year older). She tries and tries to impress Tamika, but Tamika thinks that Lily is too baby-ish. It takes a while, but Lily finally finds a friend...Keesha.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age matters so much at a young age and we see some of this in our own family. It started a good discussion about how you can admire someone but find out that their actions towards you aren’t actually very nice. It’s a great example of how to pick friends who are kind because that’s very important.

[Baby Yadav]

Best book

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily wants to be best friends with a girl who ignores her while ignoring a girl who does want to be friends.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute summer story about a girl who desperately wants to be friends with an "older" girl. Isn't funny that 1 year can seem like such a bug difference when you are little.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl seeks to make a best friend.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ages 5 and up. A helpful story for any kids entering the age where friends sometimes play games about who gets to be their best friends, featuring a Black protagonist.

[Stephanie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Best Friend was a story about a little girl, Lily, who wants to be best friends with a girl named Tamika, but Tamika wants nothing to do with Lily. Lily tries to impress Tamika by getting a new bathing suit, learning how to dive,and letting Tamika use her noodle. After several attempts to get Tamika to be best friends with her, Lily decides that it is not worth it and becomes friends with Keesha. Lily learns that she should not have to impress people for them to be friends with her. I thought this book was terrific. It shows kids that they should be themselves, and if they are, they will find their true friends. The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given to the best picture book text written in English and published in the United States. I think this book won the award because it is a wonderful children's book with a good meaning, and also, the pictures are beautiful.

*My Best Friend is a story about a little girl, Lily, who wants to be best friends with Tamika, but Tamika wants nothing to do with Lily. After several attempts to get Tamika to be best friends with her, Lily decides that it is not worth trying to impress Tamika and becomes friends with Keesha. I would use this book to show children that they should be themselves, and if they are, they will find their true friends.

[Jacqueline Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deals with the topic of friendship for young children between the ages of 5 – 8 year olds. The cover page scene takes place at an outdoor swimming pool. One girl is standing on the concrete eating an ice cream and holding a second one in her other hand, as she looks at two girls standing in the pool together. It explores the topic of friendship from a different perspective. It deals with the concept of who will be a friend, what attracts friends to each other, and isolation.
A younger girl desires to be a friend with a girl who is a year older and already has a “best” friend. No matter what the younger girl does, she is not able to be accepted as a friend. Then the younger girl meets a girl more her age. By the end of the book, the latter two girls become friends. This book illustrates one child desiring to do the things that friends do together. It answers the, “What it means to be a friend question”.
I will use this book as I continue to explore the concept of friendship within the Developmental Discipline. I am not sure if my three and younger four year olds will get this book, but I know my older four’s and five year olds will.