You Can Be a Good Friend No Matter What : A Lil Tj Book

56^th NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literary Work – Children (2025)

#1 New York Times Bestseller!

From award-winning actress and mental-health advocate Taraji P. Henson, You Can Be a Good Friend (No Matter What!) shows kids the great things that can happen when we approach others and ourselves with empathy, patience, and love.

In this debut picture book from Taraji P. Henson, quirky, stylish and a bit off-the-cuff Lil TJ is ready for her first day of school. But when she gets there, TJ finds that everything she does is a little different than everyone else and she’s standing out in all the wrong ways. Once TJ’s classmate Beau notices, he relentlessly teases her. TJ is filled with anxiety and doubt until she recalls some important words of wisdom from her Grandma Patsy. When she looks inside to her own creativity and personality, she figures out how to help herself make new friends! —and helps someone else too!

You Can Be a Good Friend (No Matter What!) is the perfect read for:

• Easing back-to-school jitters and setting a course for the new school year
• Helping children ages 4-8 to overcome anxieties and embrace what makes them unique
• Classroom and library story time, as well as bedtime reading
• Promoting mental wellness and learning socialization skills, embracing the importance of standing in their own uniqueness, and promoting friendship over bullying.

Includes author’s note with references for parents and teachers.

Taraji P. Henson is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winning actress, writer, and producer. She started the Boris Lawrence Henson foundation in 2018, which promotes mental health awareness and provides resources and services aimed at tackling the mental health crisis.

Taraji P. Henson is a multiple award-winning actor, writer, director, producer, and activist for mental health. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Around the Way Girl. Her natural humor and honesty, and her desire to encourage everyone to live true to yourself are reflected in Lil TJ, the main character in her first picture book. Taraji is a Washington DC native and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Paul Kellam is an illustrator based in Jacksonville, where his first drawings began in crayon on his parents’ home walls. At an early age, he developed a love for art, inspired by the many cartoons he watched so passionately. Paul breathes life into his work using juicy hues and rhythmic shapes, proudly illustrating stories that celebrate diversity and paint all shades in a positive light. He illustrated the award-winning novel The Good Turn as well as Antonello: Mellow Fellow. Paul loves to eat (especially Chinese), tend to plants, and watch anime with his roomie.