Tilly has moved to a new house. She has her good friend Shadow but Shadow is a dog and so he is not allowed to go to school. Tilly feels lost and alone at school until her teacher suggests she try the friendship bench. But when Tilly walks across to the friendship bench someone else is sitting there. Then the teacher suggests trying again. A little boy is sitting there. He explains the bench is broken. Is there some way these two kids can get this bench to work?
Read this perfect first sentence (sigh - the illustration shows a lighthouse and I hope you saw one on the cover):
"Tilly and Shadow had found a new home by the splash and curl of the sea."
Think about that beautiful phrase - the splash and curl of the sea.
Oh, and wait until you see the teacher - he looks like an old seafaring grandfather with his big white beard and Fair Isle pattern jumper. It is a small school - perhaps it is on an island?
And there is a whole conversation to be had from the final wordless double spread.
The Friendship Bench is rich in meaning, pathos, hope and soaring, subtle images. Bookwagon
The Friendship Bench was published in 2022. It is available in paperback so can I suggest you jump in quickly and add it to your school library shopping list. Books today do not stay in print for very long and this is a book you absolutely must add to your collection. It would be the perfect book for your younger classes to hear at the start of the year. I highly recommend this book. It is worth shopping around, though, I've seen it listed between AUS$17 and AUS$26.50. As a quiet and shy child I am sure if I had heard this book when I was younger this book would have touched my heart and given me the hope of finding a true friend.
Companion books:
Wendy Meddour is a fairly new discovery of mine, but I have to say I have totally fallen in love with her books and with the illustrations by Daniel Egneus.
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