My Friend Harry

From the Publisher
James loves his stuffed elephant, Harry, and brings h, m everywhere. But on the first day of kindergarten, Harry must stay at home. James is awfully worried about his old friend; it’s hard to be apart. Perhaps, thinks James, Harry should come to school for a visit. That would make them both feel a lot better. With her lovely pencil drawings as a backdrop, Kim Lewis tells a gentle story with grace and understanding.

Children’s Literature
James takes his cherished stuffed elephant with him everywhere, sharing his adventures and his quiet moments with him. All this love and attention takes its toll on Harry, and with time he grows a bit worn and rumpled. But James just loves him all the more. James is growing older, too, and soon it’s time for him to go to school. On the first day, he leaves Harry at home. The next day, he decides to take his pal along-just until Harry gets used to being on his own. This is a sweet story about a child’s attachment to his favorite stuffed animal and the bittersweet process of beginning to relinquish that attachment as the child moves from toddler to school age. Lewis’s gentle prose and soft color drawings make for an enjoyable reading experience.

Children’s Literature
Like every child with a well-loved stuffed animal, James takes Harry the elephant everywhere with him from playing in the fields by day to sleeping in his bed by night. Soon Harry gets worn and floppy from wear, and James gets older and must go to school. On his first day of school, James reluctantly leaves Harry behind with his mother. Later that night, James tells Harry about his day and proceeds to transfer his feelings about missing Harry onto the stuffed elephant. Consequently, James takes Harry to school the next day and says, ‘Just once until you get used to being on your own.’ The soft colored pencil drawings lend a comforting, soothing air to the book.

School Library Journal
PreS-K-From the time Harry, a fuzzy toy elephant, first meets James, he becomes the little boy’s treasured companion, going everywhere on the family farm, hearing endless bedtime stories, and traveling to the seaside. Over time he suffers many mishaps, endures many baths, and becomes rather limp and shabby. Nevertheless, he remains James’s dearest friend. They even start school together, but just until the elephant can “…get used to being on [his] own.” Meticulously done, softly realistic colored-pencil illustrations in tawny colors cozily enfold the large, clear typeface. James is a sturdy, exuberant blond child living in a comfortable stone farmhouse; Harry, endearingly shaggy, has amazingly expressive black button eyes. The words, theme, and plot are simple, warm, and satisfying. Harry is never actually anthropomorphized, always remaining quiet, but in James’s eyes he is a loyal, lovable playmate. A winning treatment of the favorite-toy theme.-Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA