My Friend John [Hardcover]

Charlotte Zolotow (Author), Amanda Harvey (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

What makes someone a best friend?

John knows everything about me, and I know everything about him. So begins the heartwarming story of two young boys who together experience fun times, sad times, happy times, hard times, secret times, and all the in-between times only two best friends can share.

This picture book text, originally published in 1968, is now being republished with glorious new art.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I know everything about John and he knows everything about me," says the narrator, describing just what makes this friendship tick in this tale, originally published in 1968. Ages 5-8.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A new edition of a title originally illustrated by Ben Shecter (HarperCollins, 1968; o.p.). The young narrator and his friend John know everything about one another: secret places, secret fears, and even which girl the other thinks is special. While one is good at math, the other is good at spelling. The narrator's mother is a better cook, but John's father tells funnier jokes. Harvey illustrates the brief text with large watercolor paintings bordered in white. What is especially interesting is the subplot she creates with her pictures. In addition to depicting the boys engaged in the activities described in the story, she shows how, over time, they bring home a fallen tree branch and use it to construct a pulley system to haul food, furniture, supplies, and even the dog up into their tree house. These pals are full of fun and mischief and young readers will enjoy their antics.
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers (May 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385326513
• ISBN-13: 978-0385326513
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The light shines through, November 18, 2000

By 

Ted Skelton (Coldstream, New York State, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Friend John (Hardcover)

Charlotte Zolotow describes the friendship between two boys, John and an unnamed other, by a series of quiet statements which carry an increasing sense of the power of the relationship. The quiet incantation of the text - each page is very nearly a couplet of verse - shows how the two friends make up for each other's failings, stick up for each other when the going gets rough, and also have a sense of the separate individuality of the companion with secret fears and pleasures.

The two boys are working on a project - to construct a den and organize a midnight feast. Because this project is completed in spare moments between school and meals and homework, and is also shown in the pictures rather than the text, it conveys very clearly the privacy of the secret world which children sometimes collaborate to build.

Amanda Harvey's pictures support this by expressing strong affection untainted by sentimentality. My favourite picture is of a boy in the grip of panic and despair, probably brought on by fractions, being helped by John who radiates concern and patience. The pictures seem to be illuminated as if from behind the page - and this seems in keeping with the constancy of their relationship which shines through all the trouble, routine and fun of childhood.

5.0 out of 5 stars Friendship across the years., November 4, 2005

By 

Darrel the Librarian "Darrel" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Friend John (Hardcover)

Good friends are hard to find and John is the narrator's best friend. He tells why John is his best friend, and tells the ways they are friends, even the secret fears they share.

My best friend for the last 40 years is also named John. This book reminds me of him. I think I'll call him this week-end.