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Children's Fiction Hispanic & Latino

My Friend

by (author) Elisa Amado

illustrated by Alfonso Ruano

Publisher
Groundwood Books Ltd
Initial publish date
Oct 2019
Category
Hispanic & Latino, Emigration & Immigration, Friendship
Recommended Age
4 to 8
Recommended Grade
k to 3
Recommended Reading age
4 to 8
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554989393
    Publish Date
    Oct 2019
    List Price
    $18.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554989409
    Publish Date
    Oct 2019
    List Price
    $10.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

From acclaimed author and translator Elisa Amado and award-winning illustrator Alfonso Ruano, My Friend is the story of the meaning of friendship in the life of an immigrant child.

Friendship — to be known, to be accepted as you are, to feel safe, especially when you are vulnerable. The girl in this story has recently arrived in Brooklyn with her family. On her very first day at school she meets a girl who almost instantly becomes her very best friend. She feels known, loved and accepted by her. But when she invites her friend to come for dinner with her family — a family that feels free to eat weird food and, even worse, burst into song with their version of a sentimental classic of longing and homesickness — something shifts and she no longer feels safe at all. What will it be like tomorrow at school?

Award-winning illustrator Alfonso Ruano’s art beautifully depicts the depth of feeling that the friends experience in this story from acclaimed author and translator Elisa Amado, about how difficult it is to come from somewhere else and what a difference friendship can make.

Key Text Features
song lyrics

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.6
Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

About the authors

Elisa Amado's profile page

Alfonso Ruano is the illustrator of The Composition by Antonio Skármeta, winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award and the UNESCO Tolerance Award and an Américas Award Commended title; Tricycle (El Triciclo) by Elisa Amado, a USBBY Outstanding International Book; and Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds by Jorge Argueta, which was featured on many lists, including USBBY’s Outstanding International Books and ALA Notable Children’s Books. After three decades as the art director for Grupo SM, the world’s largest publisher of Spanish-language children’s books, he has left to devote more time to illustration and painting.

Alfonso Ruano's profile page

Editorial Reviews

Award-winning illustrator Alfonso Ruano’s art beautifully depicts the depth of feeling that the friends experience in this story from acclaimed author and translator Elisa Amado, about how difficult it is to come from somewhere else and what a difference friendship can make.

49th Shelf

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