The Secret Friend: A Panda and Gander Story (Read Me) - Hardcover

Dunbar, Joyce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763607207 ISBN 13: 9780763607203

Publisher: Candlewick, 1999

Synopsis

Panda feels a little hurt after helping his best friend Gander write a letter to Gander's secret friend. By the illustrator of This Is the Bear and the Scary Night.

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-In the first story, Panda consumes a pear, banana, tangerine, an apple, and grapes while Gander meticulously prepares to eat his pomegranate seeds. Panda then asks for some of the seeds, but his friend knows just how to protect his share. In the second book, Gander enlists Panda to help gather rainwater in buckets on a hot day. Panda's New Toy is a ball attached to a cup with a string, and he does not want to share it with Gander. In the last title, Panda is hurt when Gander sends a letter to a secret friend until Panda discovers that he, in fact, is the secret friend. The humor in the texts continues in Craig's colorful, expressive drawings, which help illuminate the childlike friendship between these animals. Simple, bold lines and white backdrops focus attention on the action. While billed as early readers, these stories are too slight for youngsters old enough to handle the vocabulary. However, the narratives flow well and have a good format for reading aloud. Thus, these charming stories will work best as read-alouds with younger children.
Susan Marie Pitard, Weezie Library for Children, Nantucket Atheneum, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In the new Read Me/A Panda and Gander Story series, Gander decides to write a letter, and Panda can't help but notice the proceedings and inquire about them. Panda learns that Gander is writing to a ``secret'' friend, and even as the bear urges the bird to be more loving in the way the letter is signedsuggesting the inclusion of three kisses and a big red hearthe stews over his own suddenly shaky friendship. When Gander wildly adds stickers and border art to the missive, Panda is quite taken aback, wondering who the secret friend is. Gander sends the letter off (in a slit in a shoebox) and when the letter ``arrives,'' it is addressed, of course, to Panda. Dunbar (see review, above) is especially astute at picking up on the emotional nuances of how children interact. Younger listeners will understand better than he does Panda's drooping self-esteem and fear that a new friend has replaced him in Gander's eyes. Craig's illustrations are expressivea dash of eyebrow communicates Panda's uncertaintieswhile backgrounds and a scattering of project paraphernalia (stickers, scissors, colored pencils) convey the child-size realm the two friends inhabit. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763607207
• ISBN 13: 9780763607203
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Craig Helen
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24