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What About Harry?: A Charming Picture Book About Best Friends and Fun for Kids
From New York Times bestselling illustrator Derek Anderson comes the story of Sam and Harry, two pals whose friendship is tested when Henry fails as Sam excels.
Harry and Sam are best friends who do everything together. Like build castles. Jump into ponds. And swing on swings.
But when Harry realizes that Sam can build bigger, jump higher, and swing better than he can, he decides he’d be happier without Sam. All by himself, Harry can be the greatest! All by himself, Harry is…
Well, Harry is…
Alone. Is being the best at everything worth it if you don’t have a friend to share the fun with?
Harry and Sam are best friends who do everything together. Like build castles. Jump into ponds. And swing on swings.
But when Harry realizes that Sam can build bigger, jump higher, and swing better than he can, he decides he’d be happier without Sam. All by himself, Harry can be the greatest! All by himself, Harry is…
Well, Harry is…
Alone. Is being the best at everything worth it if you don’t have a friend to share the fun with?
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 15, 2020
Sam and Harry are best friends, but when they begin to compare themselves to one another, Sam’s work is always better. Feeling deflated, Harry leaves in a huff. But over time, the two friends realize they are happier together. It’s a little busy, but I really loved this picture book and know it will speak to the hearts of young children caught in comparison mode. The artwork in this book was created with ink and Photoshop.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
February 19, 2019
Best friends Sam and Harry enjoy playing make-believe, pretending they are kings and having fun creating all of the necessary accoutrements, from crowns to castles, necessary for royal life. But when Sam seems to be better at everything, winning constant praise from the other woodland animals, Harry gets jealous and storms off. But is being king all by yourself any fun, with no one else around to appreciate you...?
The first book I have read from author/illustrator Derek Anderson, the recent What About Harry? pairs a sweet tale of friendship and jealousy with cute, cartoon-style illustrations. Although pleasant enough, I don't know that either the text or artwork here stood out to me particularly. I enjoy tales of imaginative play, but felt the jealousy plot-line was too easily resolved, while the artwork, although cute, felt a little flat to me. Tastes vary of course, so readers looking for new children's stories about friendship, and how to handle jealousy, might want to take a look.
The first book I have read from author/illustrator Derek Anderson, the recent What About Harry? pairs a sweet tale of friendship and jealousy with cute, cartoon-style illustrations. Although pleasant enough, I don't know that either the text or artwork here stood out to me particularly. I enjoy tales of imaginative play, but felt the jealousy plot-line was too easily resolved, while the artwork, although cute, felt a little flat to me. Tastes vary of course, so readers looking for new children's stories about friendship, and how to handle jealousy, might want to take a look.
November 16, 2022
Harry and Sam are best friends. They do everything together. Fortunately for Sam, he's the BEST at everything, and everyone tells him so. Harry begins to notice all the attention Sam is getting and is just a little upset by it. Harry finally realizes that it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks.
Teaching points: friendship, opinions, SEL, individuality
Related reads:
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon
This Book has Alpacas and Bears by Emma Perry and Rikin Parekh
Teaching points: friendship, opinions, SEL, individuality
Related reads:
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon
This Book has Alpacas and Bears by Emma Perry and Rikin Parekh
February 19, 2019
Harry and Sam are friends. Until Sam does EVERYTHING better than Harry. Harry's feelings are hurt and he stalks off into the woods to do things by himself. Harry discovers, however, that things are not as much fun when do them alone. Soon he misses Sam. And Sam misses him. Harry runs to find his bestie and they reconcile their differences as Harry asks Sam to teach him how to do things better and Sam shares his talents with his friend.
Being a good friend doesn't always come naturally. It takes patience and perseverance to overcome jealousies and competition that can arise in any relationship. This book is a darling way for children to discover this principle. Harry Bear makes a perfect example of someone who would rather be with his friend than to feel sorry for himself, and Sam forgives him without a second thought, and never believed that Harry was any less of a friend for the things that he couldn't do as well. This is an excellent book to open a conversation on similar situations. Everyone, young or old, has them.
Being a good friend doesn't always come naturally. It takes patience and perseverance to overcome jealousies and competition that can arise in any relationship. This book is a darling way for children to discover this principle. Harry Bear makes a perfect example of someone who would rather be with his friend than to feel sorry for himself, and Sam forgives him without a second thought, and never believed that Harry was any less of a friend for the things that he couldn't do as well. This is an excellent book to open a conversation on similar situations. Everyone, young or old, has them.
February 20, 2019
Sam and Harry are best friends and they do everything together. One day, they decide to be kings and make crowns, castles, limos, and more. But Sam seems to be better at making things than Harry and Harry becomes jealous of the praise Sam receives.
So, Harry makes the biggest splash and decides he will be king all by himself. However, he quickly learns that nothing is fun when it's done by yourself. He misses Sam and Sam misses him. Harry decides to draw Sam a picture to apologize, and they're back to being friends.
WHAT ABOUT HARRY is a fast-paced, easy to read story all about friendship. This book was really adorable and I love the style of the illustrations. I love the theme and that Sam and Harry are bears. The main point of this story is that friends aren't going to be good at the same things, but that shouldn't interfere with friendship. Everything's better with a friend and there's no room for jealous.
Final Verdict: I would recommend this to children who love bears, animals, friendship, and to teach about jealousy and forgiveness.
So, Harry makes the biggest splash and decides he will be king all by himself. However, he quickly learns that nothing is fun when it's done by yourself. He misses Sam and Sam misses him. Harry decides to draw Sam a picture to apologize, and they're back to being friends.
WHAT ABOUT HARRY is a fast-paced, easy to read story all about friendship. This book was really adorable and I love the style of the illustrations. I love the theme and that Sam and Harry are bears. The main point of this story is that friends aren't going to be good at the same things, but that shouldn't interfere with friendship. Everything's better with a friend and there's no room for jealous.
Final Verdict: I would recommend this to children who love bears, animals, friendship, and to teach about jealousy and forgiveness.
July 13, 2023
For many readers, what's the intended takeaway from "What about Harry"?
It could be tried-and-true(ish) ideas like:
* Stay friends, no matter what.
* Who cares if you're not the best?
* Being alone is a living hell.
Not that one would use language like this with a tender child, the typical reader of a picture book. The unofficial moral of the story might involve something like this: "Be friendly. That's the only way to be happy."
FWIW, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE
A better takeaway from this FIVE STAR story would be, "Don't compare yourself to others."
Apparently in the animal community of this book, a whole lot of that is going around. For instance:
Sam is so good.
What a bear.
He can do anything.
Better to encourage your young readers to live their own lives. They can free themselves up to enjoy friends as much as they can. But simply refuse to play the Comparing Game.
Comparing is like gossiping -- worse than a waste of time.
It could be tried-and-true(ish) ideas like:
* Stay friends, no matter what.
* Who cares if you're not the best?
* Being alone is a living hell.
Not that one would use language like this with a tender child, the typical reader of a picture book. The unofficial moral of the story might involve something like this: "Be friendly. That's the only way to be happy."
FWIW, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE
A better takeaway from this FIVE STAR story would be, "Don't compare yourself to others."
Apparently in the animal community of this book, a whole lot of that is going around. For instance:
Sam is so good.
What a bear.
He can do anything.
Better to encourage your young readers to live their own lives. They can free themselves up to enjoy friends as much as they can. But simply refuse to play the Comparing Game.
Comparing is like gossiping -- worse than a waste of time.
March 19, 2022
Harry the bear and Sam (possibly also a bear?) are friends. They play and make crafts together. Sam is better at everything. Neither of them care, but the other animals in the forest are impressed with Sam, and eventually Harry notices and gets jealous. But Sam doesn't care, he just wants to spend time with his friend.
We spent too much time on the build up. I would have preferred we get to the conflict sooner and then spent more time on how to deal with these feelings.
We spent too much time on the build up. I would have preferred we get to the conflict sooner and then spent more time on how to deal with these feelings.
February 27, 2025
We're all different- but instead of feeling jealous or discouraged that a friend may be more gifted than we are, we can recognize our unique strengths and still enjoy being friends! I think this is a great story for little kids who are starting to recognize that some people are better at things than others. I did feel the execution was slightly off, and had to explain some of the things that were happening to my 3.5 and 5 year olds. Still, they enjoyed it!
March 22, 2019
Sam and Harry are best friends that do everything together. While doing everything together Harry notices that Sam is better at every activity than him. Their other friends start to notice and it makes Harry feel really bad. Then, he realizes that he is actually better at one thing.. but no matter what.. being friends is more important than what someone is good at. Reviewer:6
April 4, 2019
Ultimately a book about friendship. Harry and Sam are best friends but Sam gets praise about doing/being better at everything the two of them do. Harry runs off to play by himself and learns it’s lonely by himself. Loved the illustrations and the story of friendship....how friends can be good at different things.
June 5, 2019
As Sam and Harry play and build different things, everyone only pays attention to how cool Sam is. Sam finally gets fed up and splashes everyone in the pool before storming off, but realizes it's not as fun playing without his friend. Decent book about friendship and jealousy, though not my favorite ever.
October 24, 2019
Nana read this story to me. It had a lot of interesting pictures and i liked that it was a book about friends. I did not like that Harry got upset that Sam could do things better than him. They’re friends and friends should encourage each other. I did like it when they made up at the end and were friends again.
January 31, 2020
I just could not get into this one. The illustrations are colorful and expressive. The story was just ok. I think Sam is a smaller bear...not sure. Sam and Harry are best friends and pretend play they are kings with crowns. Kids may like it, but I did not really enjoy it too much. The reading level is Grades K-2.
June 22, 2019
6/21/2019 ~ Sam is perceived as being better than Harry at everything. Harry stomps off, then he comes back, and Sam finds something Harry is better at. I think I'd feel better about this book if Sam was the one who reached out to Harry, rather than Harry coming back on his own.
August 23, 2020
Cute art, sweet characters. The story of a friend’s feeling like he can’t compete with his best friend who is good at everything (even though this friend is oblivious to the other’s inner competitiveness) is important. But then there needs to be a bit more in the evolution than this story offers.
February 13, 2023
Adorable picture book about friendship and bravado. These illustrations are so adorable as the animals show expressions. I like the use of speech bubbles in this story, also.
Great for any library for young children.
Great for any library for young children.
March 2, 2019
The illustrations are so cute
March 5, 2019
Nice choice for a little one experience self-doubt or for a group to foster a discussion on acceptance and differences.
March 22, 2019
Everyone has probably had a friend like this at one point in their lives *sigh*
March 25, 2019
When your best friend is better at almost everything it can be difficult, but friendship is stronger than our insecurities.
April 10, 2019
Two bears are playing together and one always seems to be better at things than the other. Will they be able to explore their feelings and remain friends. Nice lessons at end. Preschool and up
April 10, 2019
Story was fun...illustrations were awesome.
May 26, 2019
A story of friendship and appreciating ones different abilities.
December 4, 2019
Really like the expressive illustrations, but think the text could’ve been stronger.
November 13, 2020
Harry and Sam are best friends. Except Sam is great at everything and Harry feels threatened.
October 23, 2021
When your friend is better at everything.
June 5, 2019
Harry and Sam are best friends, who do everything together. One day, while playing kings, building sand castles, cars, and painting self-portraits, Harry hears the other forest animals giving Sam high praise for all the things he can do. This upsets Harry and a misunderstanding between the best friends occurs.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews