The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Fifty-five

Friendship, just like almost everything else in life, takes work. Today's picture book tells the story of two young animals who discover that life really is better when you have a friend to share it with.

Without You

Genevieve Cote

Picture Books

For ages 5 to 7

Kids Can Press, 2011, 978-1-55453-620-7

Rabbit and Pig are good friends and they are playing together, as they so often do. Pig is pulling a wagon full of things including a soccer ball, a trumpet, books, and a teapot. Unfortunately, Pig is running so fast that items are flying out of the wagon. Rabbit tells Pig that he is “going too fast,” but Pig keeps on going. As Rabbit picks up a book off the grass, he chides Pig for being “so careless.” In response, Pig tells Rabbit that he makes a “fuss over any little mess.”

   Rabbit and Pig now are both upset and angry. Rabbit announces that he won’t play with Pig, and Pig says that he “won’t miss” Rabbit at all. They both announce that they can do all their favourite things “without you.”

   Even the best of friends sometimes have a falling out. It happens. Though Pig and Rabbit have a great deal in common, they are upset and want to prove that they don’t need each other. Children who have gone through a similar experience, will completely understand how two friends can so quickly fight, and how they can equally quickly reconcile their differences.

   With wonderfully expressive mixed media art, and a minimal but meaningful text, this book is perfect for young children who are learning how to navigate the sometimes tricky waters of friendship.