Best Friends

by Margery Cuyler, David Walker (Contributor)

Can you have more than one best friend? This relatable Step into Reading story is for every young reader navigating new friendships.
 
Friendships can be complicated, even when you’re only in elementary school! This leveled reader, about two best buddies whose friendship is disrupted by a new kid at school, will reassure children that there is enough friendship to go around when you widen your circle to include everyone! And the simple, rhyming text will be readily mastered by emergent readers, leading to a feeling of accomplishment.
 
Step 1 Readers feature big type and easy words for children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading. Rhyme and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2017

About the author

Margery Cuyler is the author of many books for children, including From Here to There, The Little Dump Truck, and That’s Good! That’s Bad! The idea for That’s Good! That’s Bad! was inspired by a conversation with her son, Thomas, who asked, "Can't bad things change into good things?" Ms. Cuyler grew up in the oldest house in Princeton, NJ, and started writing stories as soon as she learned how to write. She now lives in the same house with her husband, sons and two cats.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marger...

Reviews

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book with my first grader.

Fun rhyming story about friendship.

[Margaret Boling · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/21/2020 ~ It can be difficult to find quality texts for our earliest emerging readers. I picked this up, because it had children with different skin tones on the cover. There are 6-10 words with a supportive rhyme scheme on each 2 page spread. The story line conveys a familiar quandary - how to navigate a 2 person friendship when a 3rd person comes along.

My difficulty is the pronounced gender stereotypes that are conveyed at two major parts of the story. During dress up time, the boy is a knight and the girl is Snow White. Later, when all three children play, the boy is pulling the two girls in a wagon. We may be at a point in the 21st Century when we say that old-fashioned gender norms no longer need to confine boys and girls. However, these norms still seem to sneak up on us in visual imagery.

I'm still undecided about whether I'll be adding this Early Reader to my elementary library.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, rhyming text and short sentences make this a very good book for kids who are the same age as the characters - and likely to face the same problem! How do you deal with having more than one "best" friend so nobody gets left out?
I do wish the girls had dressed up as something other than princesses (although the narrator did "wear a hat" at one point) - but I guess I can't have everything.

[Donna Mork · Rating 5 out of 5]

A boy and girl are best friends. Then she gets a new friend. She misses her other friend, until she introduces them and they all three become friends.

[Valleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Book I would recommend to emerging readers because the phrases are simple and the images sync well with the words of this tale of friendship blossoming between more than just two children.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun rhyming book
1/21/21 Julia read to me

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book