Author: Eric Carle
Lauren's Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Do you want to be my friend? is a wordless picture book that follows the story of a eager mouse who is searching for a friend. He passes an array of animals including a lion, seal, horse and snake but none of them want to be his friend. He then finds another mouse, who looks similar to him, and they become friends.
I enjoyed how this story was colorfully illustrated with pictures of different animals. I did not like this book for the sole reason that it sends a negative message. In my opinion, it is stating that a person can only be friends with someone else because they look alike or are similar. I think that it is important for children to understand that they should be friends with people with differences including likes and dislikes and race or ethnicity.Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 1976
ISBN: 0-8085-9434-6
I agree with you lauren in that we should not be teaching our children to only make friends that are similar to you. We need to encourage the idea of acceptance.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting that the message of the book would be so narrow minded. Diversity and acceptance are certainly ideals we want to look for in high-quality children's literature.
ReplyDeleteI am so shocked that this book was not a good read for children! To think that Eric Carle wrote so many iconic children books! However; I agree that we should be promoting diversity and acceptance of others.
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