This book is my best friend

Title:

Author:

Robinson, Robin, 1986- author, illustrator.

Summary:

Sunny and Aarush both love to read. In fact, it is their favorite thing. For Aarush, a book is like a refuge for when you want to be alone. For Sunny, a book is like a companion that keeps you from being lonely. There is only one problem: they are best friends with the same book, and neither wants to share. Clearly, one of them will have to find something else to read—but maybe they’ll discover something even better along the way. Could it be sharing is the best part of reading and friendship? -- Amazon.

Audience:

Ages 4-8. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Grades 2-3. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 23 x 29 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Books and reading -- Juvenile fiction.

Libraries -- Juvenile fiction.

Best friends -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9781665906814

Publication Information:

New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2023]

Call Number:

P ROBINSON

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003668780	New Picture Books	ROBINSON	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

When two young readers reach for the same book at the library, they set off on a charming romp through the stacks in this rambunctious and endearing picture book.

Sunny and Aarush both love to read. In fact, it is their favorite thing. For Aarush, a book is like a refuge for when you want to be alone. For Sunny, a book is like a companion that keeps you from being lonely. There is only one problem: they are best friends with the same book, and neither wants to share.

Clearly, one of them will have to find something else to read--but maybe they'll discover something even better along the way. Could it be sharing is the best part of reading and friendship?

Author Notes

Robin Robinson makes picture books and graphic novels for kids while living in a house that looks like someone threw a Halloween party in a library but forgot to clean up afterward. Robin likes both robots and rodents very much.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3--Two children with enormous stresses in their lives--the brown-skinned black-haired child has an elderly daadi with a long gray braid who seems to have her hands full plus new twin siblings at home, and the lighter-skinned redhead has a mother hooked up to machines in a hospital bed--bicker politely over a book, Factory Friends, about robots that they both declare is their "best friend." They can each back it up with wonderful reasoning; they both offer the other decent substitutes. Continuing glimpses of their home lives show readers why this one book is so exceptionally important. Robinson, in words and art, shows the children taking apart just how the book makes them feel, and through communication, they discover that the friendship at the heart of the book is something they can share in real life. This sigh-worthy ending is one that every reader will cheer for, and the illustrations, showing absolute wall after wall of bookshelves, are an endless delight. VERDICT The comfort of books is well known but perhaps never tackled so resolutely. The children here are relatable and never precocious, keeping the argument civilized, sincere, and for readers, too, win-win.--Kimberly Olson Fakih

Publisher's Weekly Review

This all-dialogue picture book from Robinson (No One Returns from the Enchanted Forest) opens with two kids--one with pale skin, red hair, and big glasses, and one with brown skin and dark wavy hair--reaching for the same robot book on the library shelf. Each claims the book as their respective BFF, asserts possession based on passion for an element of the story, and tries to wave off the competition with an alternative title. But within a few pages, the children each reveal that the book is a critical source of solace: one child's mother is in the hospital, and the title is a "nice, familiar best friend" that "makes being alone less scary." For the other, the book offers "a quiet world" amid a bustling household that includes twin infant siblings. As the kids suggest alternate titles for each other, empathy and friendship blossom, and the two realize they can share the book during their library visit. Earnest and moving, with thin-lined scenes in green, orange, and teal that affirm the variously diverse library-going community, the story underscores the many roles that books can play, including modeling compassion, understanding, and connection. Ages 4--8. (Jan.)