19 December 2018 FRIENDS AND FOES: POEMS ABOUT US ALL by Douglas Florian, Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane July 2018, 48p., ISBN: 978-1-4424-8795-6

“Anyone will tell you

Just how hard it is to make and keep a friend”

-- Joni Mitchell, “Jericho” (1974)

“What Friends Are For

For sharing.

For caring.

For giving.

Forgiving.

For walking.

For talking.

For waiting.

Relating.

For pleasing.

For teasing.

For finding.

Reminding.

For lending.

For mending.

For treating you fair.

But what matters most?

For just being there.”

I love this poem! It reads aloud so well, it has univerality. It’s meaningful to the everyday lives of children. I can imagine it being read aloud at a circle time accompanied by a discussion about friends. I’d want to point out to the older kids the poet’s clever use of “for giving” versus “forgiving,” and then discuss the concept of forgiveness.

From our first friends, onward, friendship can be one of life’s great joys. It can sometimes also lead to an emotionally traumatic experience.  Through this great collection, Florian puts friendship complexities into simple terms.

“We Used to Be Friends”

We used to be friends.

But we drifted apart.

Don’t mesh anymore.

Don’t see heart-to-heart.

We used to be friends.

We drifted away.

Will we get back together?

Well, maybe someday.”

Among my favorites are one about keeping in touch with a friend who has moved away; one about becoming friends despite cultural differences; one with a clever twist-ending about an imaginary friend; and one about sleepovers. All the poems are appropriate for the elementary grades, with a bunch of them also being accessible to preschoolers.

Share this one with a friend.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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