Simon and Molly Plus Hester [Hardcover]

Lisa Jahn-Clough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2001 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Simon and Molly were the best of friends, just the two of them. Until Hester moved in. Hester doesn’t want to ride the two-wheeler, like they always do; she wants to make paper airplanes instead. And the toast Simon makes for her is too boring; she wants to add cinnamon sugar. Molly happily goes along with all of her changes, but Simon liked things the way they were before Hester moved in. With Hester around, will Molly still want to be his friend?
Lisa Jahn-Clough once again captures the complexities of friendship. She deftly explores the children’s feelings of insecurity and exclusion, revealing both the hidden motives behind their actions and the keys to their reconciliation. Readers will discover that with a little understanding and compromise, while two is definitely better than one, three can be even more fun!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Simon and Molly Plus Hester by Lisa Jahn-Clough, the duo from My Friend and I and Missing Molly are peas in a pod. But the status quo gets overturned when Hester moves in and offers up a lot of new ideas for having fun; Simon soon comes to believe that his best buddy has been wooed away. The happy resolution reassures children that three needn't be a crowd.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 3-5. Thick paints daubed on with childlike simplicity portray best friends Simon and Molly riding a two-wheeler, sharing buttered toast, and playing together everyday-- "until Hester moved in." Hester injects a third person into the friends' well-worn patterns: Hester prefers her toast with cinnamon sugar, and she would rather fly paper airplanes than ride a bike. Crouching alone in a corner of a deeply gray double-page spread, Simon worries: Molly likes Hester better than him. But it turns out to be Molly who melds the three into an inseparable unit; she encourages Simon to teach Hester to ride a two-wheeler, and in exchange, Hester shows Simon how to fold paper airplanes. Then all three enjoy toast with cinnamon sugar. Modeling the best that friendship can be, these three playmates set a fine example of sharing and caring. Ellen Mandel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; None edition (August 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618082204
• ISBN-13: 978-0618082209
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,254,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Jahn-Clough grew up on the coast of Maine to a painter mother and zoologist father. She knew from a very early age that she was going to become a writer and an artist, and started making and selling her first hand-made books in 1990. She now has thirteen books published (picture books and young adult novels).
Lisa has always been interested in learning so she did her undergraduate studies at Hampshire College, and went on to receive her MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. She then become a professor. She was writer-in-residence for nine years at Emerson College, chair of Illustration at the Maine College of Art, and taught at the Vermont College Writing for Children program. Currently Lisa is faculty at Hamline University MFA Writing for Children department.
Lisa lives with her partner, the author/illustrator Ed Briant, and their two dogs in Savannah, Georgia and Portland, Maine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Friendship triangles, March 5, 2002

By 

Kristi Betts (Irving, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simon and Molly Plus Hester (Hardcover)

Everyone has experienced the rejection, or supposed rejection of a best friend. Simon feels his friendship with Molly is overshadowed by her friendship with Hester, the new girl in the neighborhood. A very real problem for children is brought to life in this tale of a friendship triangle. Jahn-Clough's illustrations are bright and cheerful when the children are playing and having fun, but become dark and foreboding when Simon questions his friendship with Molly.