River's New Friend

by Michael Roth, Zoe Ranucci (Illustrator)

"River's New Friend" is a humorous, heartwarming, and honest story about learning to appreciate a new sibling.

When River, the dog, meets her new little sister, a puppy named Willow, River thinks she has found the perfect friend. But River quickly realizes that Willow isn’t a friend... she’s a MONSTER! Willow eats River’s food, slobbers on River's toys, makes messes all over the house, and takes away from River's time with Mom and Dad!

But when River sets out to find someone else to be her new friend, Willow is determined to tag along. Is a friendship in store for the new siblings, after all?

32 pages, Hardcover

Published April 15, 2023

Reviews

[Jess Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, heartfelt, funny, and 100% relatable—I absolutely recommend this book to any family of multiple children or who are expecting a new addition. I have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old and oh boy, did my 3-year-old relate to this story! He's asked to read it at least a dozen times, and we've only had the book for a couple of days. Adding to our picture book hall of fame as a new favorite, for sure.

Pros:
- Sweet story. I LOVE the way it handles the emotional roller coaster and struggles of having a younger sibling. My 3-year-old especially latched on to River's conclusion at the end—when I asked him if his younger brother was more like a monster or a friend, he firmly said, "BOTH."
- Cute artwork, beautiful backgrounds/spreads, relatable characters that my kids latched onto.
- Quality binding. Pages and cover holding up well against not-so-gentle toddler hands. Plus—no dust cover!
-The author has some fun bonus stuff on his website that my kids have loved (coloring pages, stickers, videos, etc). My 3-year-old loves to look at pictures of the author's real-life dogs that the story is based off of.

Cons:
- My 3-year-old wants a dog now.

[Mikayla Maglalang · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a 21 years old, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. This book was about a dog named River, who began to feel lonely as their owners had other responsibilities to tend at the time. While the owners observe River’s sadness, they get her a friend, a sister that could be of company to River. However, River’s first impression of the new dog, Willow, doesn’t go as swell when Willow begins to eat River’s food, plays with their toys, and grab the attention of her owners as she makes a mess here and there. This make River upset, as they were already lonely as it is. As River goes to find other friends besides Willow, none of them have time for them either, except for Willow, and as they try to play with River, they begin to get along together. In the end, Willow and River become siblings, and being siblings isn’t always going to be a perfect experience, but what matters is that you are family, and family will always love each other. This book was a perfect representation of my central theme of sharing love, as it highlights the importance of how much sharing love with someone can change the experience you have with them. The last page of the book captures this very well as it ends on how families love each other.

[Timothy Forner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It's a great tale to share with kids adjusting to a new sibling. The story is fun, while being meaningful. River, little sister Willow, and all the animals they meet are fabulously illustrated to match the delightful prose. It's entertaining for adults too (who may well be doing the reading) -- say "Hi" to Earl the Squirrel from me!

[Kelsey Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable characters and story!

The story was so good and it was cute to see the two dogs interacting and figuring each other out! It was fun to see how their friendship blossomed! Also, I loved the illustration!

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg adorable

This is so cute! New pets aren't always accepted right away, but they get there. This is such a fun story with cute illustrations! River and Willow look so cute!

[Eva Gremmert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The images are beautiful and the story is fun and also has deep meaning. Reading it with my grandchildren gave me the opportunity for them to share their feeling about their younger sibling who was acting a bit like a MONSTER. We got to laugh and they gained an appreciation for their sibling as we read this story. I have purchased other copies to give away.

[Vanessa Ricci-Thode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and heartwarming!