My Best Friend + Giveaway

I absolutely LOVED Julie Fogliano’s If I Was the Sunshine, illustrated by Loren Long, so I was thrilled to be asked to review Fogliano’s latest picture book, My Best Friend. If I Was the Sunshine is a lovely rhyming (yes it can be done well!) picture book that depicts a loving relationship with many analogies. In contrast, My Best Friend, is written in lyrical voice from the point of view of a young preschooler. And though the friendship connections are different, Fogliano does not disappoint.

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. My Best Friend is a self-explanatory title so on first read, I readily accepted this friendship between the girls. But <SPOILER ALERT>, it’s Fogliano’s ending that makes me fall in love with the book as a whole. Why?

Because the two girls become friends without even knowing each others’ names. Do you know how many times that has happened to us when the girls were little?

A million times.

Plus, recently Little Lion and I met up with one of my best friends from med school and her same aged daughter. Guess what? Within minutes, our two girls were chattering away and being their own silly selves. Instant bonding for the whole day long as if they grew up together. (They have met up a handful of times starting at 3 months of age until the current age of 9 turning 10.)

The next day, Little Lion proclaimed my friend’s daughter her ‘soul twin’ because they just ‘got’ each other.

SOUL TWIN. I like the sound of that! Little Lion is quick to make friends, but she told me that a soul twin is something different.

Back to My Best Friend, Fogliano establishes a fun and unreserved friendship between the two kids right away. And we see that even though they are different and similar in many ways, they accept each other regardless. It’s this openness to friendship that is at the heart of the story, and what makes this book unique.

Jillian Tamaki’s illustrations have a retro-vintage feel to them. The girls could be playing in the 1950s or 1980s or now.

This book is a gift—a gift to let your kids know that it’s safe to make friends, it’s safe to be yourself, and that there are so many more people LIKE them than different.

My advice? Get a copy for your best friend or soul twin or little one today.

[Or enter or GIVEAWAY on Instagram or here for a chance to win your own copy.]

Tell Dr. Bookworm!

Tell me about a friendship you forged in an unlikely place. Or tell me about your soul twin/kindred spirit. I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

GIVEAWAY Rules: If you’d like to enter our GIVEAWAY for your very own copy, please comment below or on our IG post of the book. Open to U.S. residents only, sponsored by Simon and Schuster, not affiliated with Instagram. One person will be chosen at random. Giveaway contest ends on March 9 at 1159pm, PST.