Do you want to be my friend? was written and illustrated by Eric Carle. It was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 1976.
A mouse wants a friend. He passes by many animals until he meet someone who wants to be friends. He avoids the incredibly long snake...
On the fourth page of the book there are three paragraphs that teach us how to read this book and how it can help young kids learn how to read books. It’s all written in a super “sales-pitch” style that makes this book seem like the greatest ever. I commend the person who wrote this stuff.
So... how does this book work? Well, the mouse wants a friend and on each page he finds a tail on the right side. The tails are placed in different places (high, low or in the middle). I’m guessing young kids (and I mean really young kids) can grab the tale in whatever place it’s in and get a sense for how to read turn pages.
The illustrations are done in Eric Carle’s usual “primitive” style. I thought some of the animals looked kind of scary, as if they were on a very strong drugs. It’s a book for two year olds so the simpler the better I guess.
