I'll Be Your Friend, Smudge!

by miriam-moss

Happy birthday, Smudge --or is it? She's just moved to a new house in a new neighborhood where she knows no one. Who will come to her party? Even the beautiful box of paints from Stripe and a special breakfast don't cheer Smudge up. Then Stripe suggests they celebrate by building a tree house, and the little mouse discovers that it takes only a moment to make a friend.or two or three or four!

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Animals

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Anna Wilson]

This is the story of Smudge who just moved to a new house. It is her birthday and Stripe gives her a brand new set of paints and a special breakfast. Smudge is sad that she doesn’t have any friends to come to her birthday party. Her and Stripe think that building a tree house will cheer Smudge up, however it doesn’t, she still doesn’t have any friends to celebrate her birthday with. Soon a Hare comes along and is thrilled to be Smudge’s friend, he even suggests introducing her to his other friends so she can be friends with them too. After meeting, all of these new friends, Smudge has them over for her birthday party and they all have the best time.

This would be a good book to teach kids the importance of introducing friends to each other. Hare does a great job of introducing Smudge in a polite way as they come across each of his friends. You could talk to young readers about how they should introduce two people who don’t know each other. I love this sweet book about friendship and I love that lots of students will be able to relate to this book. Many students who have moved have likely felt this same sadness that Smudge felt about not having any friends at their new school. As a teacher, if you are getting a new student in your class it could be beneficial to read this book to your class beforehand and teach them to introduce their new classmate to their friends in class. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and seeing Smudge go about her birthday through the fun, bright illustrations.

[Karin]

Children's literature picture book
PK-1

I really enjoyed the artwork in this little book about meeting new friends. The story was not all that interesting. Students might stay with me on a read aloud but I think because of the pictures and not the plot.

[Ms. Krista]

Making friends is easy, just be yourself

[Kim]

An excellent book to teach friendship.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams]

I love how even though smudge was in a new place she had friends for her birthday, because others made sure they befriended her.

[KaitandMaddie]

Awwww. I’m fairly sure a similar thing happened to a friend of Kait’s and it’s such a sad thing for a kid.

[Mandy]

Smudge is sad she is celebrating her birthday not knowing anyone because she is in a new home. Stripes tries cheering her up by building a treehouse. But what fun is a treehouse if there is no one to play in it. So, Stripes encourages her to find some new friends.

[Rose]

E Mos

[Natalie Weber]

This story would work well for younger ages to show them about friendship.

[Shawna Kopp]

A good book to share with students about how to be a good friend and friendship.