How to Help a Friend

by Karl Newson, Clara Anganuzzi (Illustrator)

A heartfelt picture book about the versatile beauty and power of friendship

This hopeful picture book touts empathy and friendship. It’s normal to feel sad sometimes, but our friends can be the best antidote. Karl Newson’s simple text and Clara Anganuzzi’s heartwarming illustrations present the perfect example of how being a good friend means learning how to support and listen to those we care about most.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Animals, Childrens, Emotion, Nature, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2022

About the author

Karl Newson writes for the children’s book blog The Mudwaffler and contributes to The Creative Attic, an online publication of illustrated poetry. For All the Stars Across the Sky is his debut picture book. He lives in England.

Reviews

[Chantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways, we remain in a place of learning for all of our lives. We meet different people along the way & some of them become friends whilst others are a simple smile shared. From all these interactions we become aware that people are different from each other in all the ways one can imagine.

In this book we are reminded that no one way is right or wrong, everyone approaches things in their own way. When we are able to find common ground in understanding, kindness & empathy, we learn a bit more about others & ourselves, along the way.

Newson’s note at the end of this picture book highlights his reasons for writing; working through cancer treatment he found a lot of wonderful moments to be shared with people he considered family & those whose careers placed them in this quotidian. I would like to first applaud Newson for writing a book that at once intones the wonder in human relationships whilst also delicately wording the vast oddities we encounter in the midst of, on occasion, tragedy.

One did not need to read the author’s note to know that the place in which this story took flight, was from a person who has walked a couple of rotations of the earth. Finding oneself at a place of understanding towards the variety of ways human beings approach events is something that we should all hope to achieve.

There is something so endearing about reading phrases that highlight parts of yourself in such a factual, simplistic, manner whilst being paired with illustrations of lovely animal encounters & nature, that leaves me feeling very comforted for having read this book.

To know that children might stumble upon this book in the early stages of reading & exposure to literature as a whole; that they might find comfort in seeing themselves amongst the poetic phrases, is something I am very grateful to know.

Thank you to Edelweiss+, Templar Books & Karl Newson for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cute little story about the different types of friends, and how they deal with difficult things. I enjoyed reading through this one, and see the benefit in having this one around for younger readers. Knowing how different people react, is a great way to start distinguishing between emotions, how to help someone, and when you just need to be present.

LOVED IT!

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story of friendship and how different people deal with things in different ways

[Olivia]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/how-to...

HOW TO HELP A FRIEND is a sweet picture book about all the different ways to be a friend. The story suggests an individualized approach to friendship, listening to what friends need and all the different ways they might like to do things. For instance, some friends might like to write, others to read, and still others to watch TV. The illustrations capture a girl with many animal friends enjoying each possibility together.

What I loved: This is a really sweet rhyming book about all the ways you can help a friend by being there for them as they need. There are so many ways to be a great friend, and each friend may need something different. The text gives children many different ideas that add up to show that all our friends are unique and that's okay - we can be friends and enjoy doing different things together. The lovely imagery captures the imagination as the young girl is shown enjoying many different things with all her animal friends, adding a touch of whimsy and magic to the story. Soft colors and detailed images will give children much to explore on each page.

As a small thing, I also really appreciated the placement of word art in the white or light-colored areas of each page that made it easier to read in low light. For instance, on pages that are mostly dark, there is smoke or some other white feature in which the text is printed. This is really helpful to caregivers reading aloud at bedtime.

Final verdict: HOW TO HELP A FRIEND is a lovely picture book about friendship and being there for one another in individualized ways. The rhyming text and whimsical artwork will work well for toddlers and preschoolers.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do we learn to help our friends when they are feeling down? One way is to be able to identify emotions. This heartfelt picture book shows all the ways a friend, or you, can feel, and the ways to help. A brown-skinned girl in teal blue overalls and many different animals demonstrate lots of ways to feel big feelings: some friends like to be alone; some like to talk about it; some like to read; some just want to laugh. Kids will be able to recognize many different ways of feeling feelings. Lilting rhyming text begs to be read aloud, and although there isn’t an arc to the story, their are plenty of lovingly illustrated settings and animals doing animal things or human things to point out and enjoy. There are squirrels in the trees, penguins on glaciers, porpoises swimming and singing, macaws flying over the girl and a polar bear in a rowboat gliding down a river. The artist clearly revels in portraying nature.

I like that the book validates that big feelings are not to be feared, and that a friend can help. And it is not lost on me that the child is brown skinned with an ample, rounded body. I love seeing different body shapes in children’s books. I especially liked this verse: “Some friends want to fly away. / Some friends want to hide. / Some friends might want someone else but appreciate you tried.” Kids will see that this is what friends do for each other.

[Sophie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

How To Help A Friend. So many of us struggle with the simple ways to show our love to our friends in their great and very worst moments. We often experience different needs and may not understand exactly how to let them know that you are there for them. This is such a calming, simple book that lets us know the power of love in times of feeling blue. Some people want to be alone and some want to be surrounded by a big hug. Some may want to talk it out, and others may not want to talk about it anymore. Some need advice and support and others just want you by their side. This book uses animals in the illustration which is also a sweet way for children to visualize that not only do we feel sad and alone sometimes. I ended up loving reading this book aloud to my roommate even as college students, we could relate to a children's book. This book is perfect for anyone at any stage in life, but very beneficial for the little ones growing up and slowly understanding social interactive and emotional skills. In speech pathology, we need to understand and teach our clients how best to express themselves to other people and communicate with their loved ones. This book gives a multitude of examples of how to communicate in verbal and nonverbal ways which is perfect for a child struggling to speak or even hear.

[Paula Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hopeful picture book touts empathy and friendship. It’s normal to feel sad sometimes, but our friends can be the best antidote. Karl Newson’s simple text and Clara Anganuzzi’s heartwarming illustrations present the perfect example of how being a good friend means learning how to support and listen to those we care about most.

Future plans for How to Help a Friend in my classroom would to read it during circle time in the first weeks of school so that the children could understand why their fellow classmates feel the way they do. I would also loan it out to adults of children who are asking why their good friend is portraying an personality that is found in the book. So that the child can begin to understand the emotion.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, and it is something good to read to the very young students so that they know what a good friend should be like. It mainly says different ways to help friends when they are going through a rough time, and different strategies to use to help them get through that. The pictures are fun and something i think the children would enjoy as well. It is one girl, and she gets the advice from a bunch of animals, and they are doing fun activities with her in the pictures. I think this is best for Preschool age.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book goes through a variety of examples of how friends might react to hard times, showing the different and sometimes contradictory types of support that people with different personalities and processing styles might need. The author wrote this based on his experience fighting cancer, and it has a lot of great elements, but it felt too long and repetitive to use with most little children. This is probably best for elementary-aged kids, or as a gift for adults.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Describes some of the ways that you might help a grieving or traumatized friend or student (will be perfect for teachers); and provides validation for a variety of responses to grief and trauma. You might be the run-around-to-let-off-steam type, or the I-want-to-be-alone time -- this book allows for it all. Good rhymes, art that doesn't try to be too conceptual.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this brightly illustrated rhyming story, a girl has lots of animal friends who show her that others respond differently to situations and that being a good friend means learning how to support others according to their preference. Along the way, she also learns many ways to cope with the vicissitudes of life.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations take my breath away with how utterly gorgeous they are 🥹 The accompanying text rhymes and walks the reader through the many different ways people deal with grief and can offer support to one another - perfect for little ones, but also perfect as a reminder to people of all ages. I love it 🩷

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young girl shows the reader how different animal friends need different kinds of support, a hug, to shout, to run or to just be quiet with them. Clara Anganuzzi's beautiful illustrations show the love the girl and the animals share as she tries to support them. Parents and teachers can share this book with children to show them that people and pets need different kinds of support.

[Megan]

This is a sweet book about all the ways you may be able to help a friend who is sad. There is not really any plot, just a series of ideas, but I liked the variety of suggestions and the illustrations are nice.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Sarah BT · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice starter for a conversation about helping others and the various ways people may express themselves in hard times.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book does a really good job of outlining the different friendships and feelings you might have in relationships for our little friends.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friendship story filled with ways a friend might need you.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy the ideas in this book but I struggle to get kids interested in it. This might be a good one for an adult to share with a child though.