I Am Friendly

Children's Literature - Cathy Puett Miller

Part of a series entitled "Pebble Character Values," this book is designed to give below-level readers a nonfiction text they can read successfully. Although there are no more than fourteen words to a page and the text is controlled vocabulary, the book contains many familiar nonfiction features such as headings, a table of contents, a glossary, and an index and is a good first introduction to factual text. It also includes "Read More" and "Internet Sites" segments in the back of the book for further explanation. The entire series (fourteen titles in all) can be used in language arts instruction, character education classes, or in a classroom library. Engaging a consultant in character education, Dr. Madonna Murphy, to review this book before publishing adds credibility to the contents. This book does a good job of showing the interaction between individuals of different ages (and sends a strong message about friendship by doing so). It is interesting to note that a real friend of the author (her bus driver) is included in a photograph on page twelve. However, I was disappointed no African Americans were included in this or any of the other four titles I reviewed in this series, especially since they represent such a key element of American culture.