Hello, friends! Today’s book is Friends by Eric Carle, the story of two friends separated by distance and fate coming together again.

A little boy and girl are best friends. They do everything together and spend every waking moment in each other’s company. That is, until the girl moves far away, and the boy find himself lonely as he misses his friend. So the boy sets out on a journey, over mountains, across rivers, and threw snow and rain to be with his friend again. At last, he finds his friend, and it’s as though they are never apart: they once again play together, laugh together, and even get married.

I think it’s pretty widely accepted that Eric Carle is one of the great masters of children’s literature, so it’s hard to be critical of his work, but this one was a bit of a letdown for us. Much of the art is simply not Carle’s best: the majority of the book is dominated by two-page spreads that offer nothing but abstract colors meant to represent a river, a field, a rainstorm, etc. They are very minimal and offer no detail, and JJ was pretty unimpressed with them. The story is enjoyable, but the twist ending is just a bit odd. The concept of children marrying each other feels very strange in general, and when combined with the post-script of a photo of the author and his childhood friend, who did move away but whom he never reconnected with, it’s a bit confusing for little ones and adult readers alike. The length is fine but, as I mentioned, the art isn’t very engaging, and JJ started getting antsy around 2/3 through. So while Carle’s body of work boasts many, many gems, this one just isn’t one of our favorites.