friendship – The Wild Library

This was by and far the hardest (in the best way) middle grade novel I have ever read. The emotions were flying and you’ll bet I cried my eyes out. My heart was both broken & healed multiple times in this book. Peter had raised Pax, a fox, from kithood but the two become separated. Sara Pennypacker alternates between Pax & Peter’s journeys, each of them trying to find the other all the while a war is raging, threatening each of their communities and lives. The prose is deep and offers its reader a meditation on humanity: love & anger, war & peace, wild & domestic. Ultimately, this story is about more than just friendship. It’s about love and all of its complexities. Pax, written by Sara Pennypacker & illustrated by Jon Klassen, was published by Balzer & Bray in 2016.

Pax by Sara Pennypacker, & illustrated by Jon Klassen

The Worry Box by Suzanne Chiew, & illustrated by Sean Julian

I absolutely adored this book. As a kid who was prone to worrying, I would have benefited greatly from reading such a positive story- and would have been all over making my own worry box! At first I felt like some of the worries disappeared far too easily once they were put into the worry box, but then the ending changed my mind; it was clear that the worries were still there, just easier to deal with. I think that for a picturebook, the concepts of worry, fear, and anxiety were discussed in a manner relative to the intended audience. A tangible thing like a worry box offers anxious readers a unique support tool, and I loved how the worry box was shared from friend to friend. I’d recommend this title for kids ages 3-5, but as always, this is a purely subjective opinion. The Worry Box was published by Tiger Tales in 2018.