The well-loved Winnie the Pooh books taught people that friendships are akin to the stars above; people sometimes don’t see their friends, but they know that their friends are always there, just like the stars. Famous children’s book Charlotte’s Web talks about the importance of friendship and how friendship wins over any obstacles. Even Harry Potter’s book series centers around the theme of friendship. And just along those lines, Rosella Calauti’s Friends Here…There…Everywhere!!! is a book about building friendships and promoting friendship as an important relationship, especially for children. 

The book brought to life the characters of Brandi, Salvatore, Lee, Lori, and Erika as they explore their community together and maintain a kind of friendship that outlasts time itself. The book itself is an inspiring fiction that reflects on the merits of having friends through thick and thin and, at the same time, motivates and promotes social skills and literacy development for young kids. The author, in the story, effectively shares the perks of friendship for young kids as they explore the world and grow into adulthood. 

The Kid and the Book

Literature plays a significant role in developing a person’s social skills, especially when it comes to children forming bonds of friendship. They say that a picture paints a thousand words, which is especially true for children’s books. Pictures or imageries depicted in children’s books can influence a child’s perception. Most of the young children’s books’ topics focus on friendship. The colorful drawings displaying a group of people or animals talking together, laughing, playing around, and even fighting and then making up would form a child’s view of friendship.

The pictures themselves and the words and phrases used in the books can also significantly impact and influence a child’s thoughts on having friends. That is why educators and parents alike took great care in selecting the kind of literature that their children are exposed to. In fact, books are often used as the primary tool for teaching kids the meaning of having friends and the pros and cons of friendship. In children’s books, a good friend is portrayed as someone kind, helpful, and thoughtful. A good friend is also someone who is the person who will support their friends in case of adversities. A bad friend is, of course, the opposite of a good friend. Bad friends are shown in children’s books as persons who cheat, lie, or do something cruel to hurt other people. These portrayals of what a good friend and a bad friend are through colorful pictures and simple yet memorable lines formed a child’s early perception and primarily influenced their choice in making friends. 

There are other values being shared by children’s books aside from the value of friendship. Children’s books are also a good source for a child’s emotional and psychological development. It is the story found in the books where a child understands the feelings of love, joy, happiness, excitement, and even fear and anger. This is illustrated when the characters in the story are involved in plots that act out these feelings. So the child had a glimpse of what it is like when someone does something good for another person or what happens to someone who does something terrible. Through these books, kids learn about the consequences of a good and a bad act. Through these books, children would also catch their first glimpse of the real world outside through the characters and the plots described in the books. 

Rosella Calauti’s book characters, Brandi, Salvatore, Lee, Lori, and Erika, are the perfect example of an ideal childhood friendship. The author sought to inspire and motivate the readers, both the young and the old, in her book that highlights friendship as an essential element in a person’s life. And effectively she did so. 

Find out more about the friendship of Brandi, Salvatore, Lee, Lori, and Erika in the book Friends Here…There…Everywhere!!!. Grab a copy of Rosella Calauti’s book on Amazon, or visit the author’s website.