My Best Friend

Two best friends sway on a tire swing as the voice of one of the girls shares the depth of their friendship and the activities they do together. The best friends sing together, comfort one another, draw with chalk, make each other laugh, and more. She knows they are best friends because her friend loves strawberry ice cream, she hates it, and they still get along. When it’s time for the friends to part ways for the day, the girl says she’ll ask her friend’s name tomorrow, surprising the reader with the sudden realization that this friendship is only one day old and perfectly capturing how children can immediately become the best of friends. The book cleverly distorts time, turning the single day of friendly fun into what seems to be a long and solid friendship. Tamaki’s fabulous illustrations brilliantly use a limited color palette of just green and pink hues, magnifying not only the simplicity of the colors but of childlike friendship. Illustrations depicting one girl pretending to be a pickle and the girls riding a bird and chipmunk magnificently portray the girls’ imaginative play, and the text sounds like it’s straight out of a child’s mouth, matching a child in its lack of punctuation and capitalization. With wonderful illustrations and text that are both full of emotion, imagination, and voice, My Best Friend beautifully encapsulates the essence of a quick and delightful childhood friendship.