When a Friend Needs a Friend
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Good friends stick together in fun times and hard times.
When a Friend Needs a Friend is a gift for friends of all ages.
"This thoughtful book is sure to spark conversations between child readers and sympathetic adults." - The Horn Book
"A wonderful story for children and adults that reminds us about the importance of feeling all of your feelings." - Amanda Mintzer, Psy.D, Child Mind Institute
"The friendship between Oskar and Aya feels authentic, and the illustrations evoke ease and harmony." - Tara Sanabria Davila, LCSW Assistant Professor of Social Work, Yale Child Study Center
Aya and Oskar love to go on big adventures, build amazing creations, and make up stories together. But when Oskar gets sad, his feelings grow so big he doesn't want to play. And that leaves Aya feeling hurt and confused. How can she help when she doesn't know what Oskar needs?
With candor and compassion, this heartfelt story shows that big feelings are a normal part of life - something to be felt rather than fixed - and models how to be an ally when someone you love is hurting.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Roozeboos portrays big feels with sensitivity in this tender story about two best friends navigating one's need for alone time. Oskar, a white-presenting child with curly red hair and round glasses, loves to build. He and narrating chum Aya, portrayed with brown skin and long brown hair, seem to be happy regulars at a construction site where workers, shown with various skin tones, greet them: "Hi, Little Buddies!" But Oskar also sometimes gets "quiet or grumpy," and one day his emotions run so deep that he just wants to be left alone, leaving Aya unsure about how to react: "How could I comfort him? What could I say?" As Oskar builds a tall tree house that he occupies, solo, across multiple seasons, Aya sends paper airplanes from an open window. With support from the construction crew ("Sometimes Oskar has big feelings and needs a little space"), Aya eventually finds a way to connect with Oskar, and a metaphorical visual gestures toward the usefulness of gaining perspective. In a book that largely resists oversimplifying a child's intense emotions, scribbly textures and mixed-media collages capture layered feelings, and reactions, on display across time. Ages 4–8.
