April & Mae and the Movie Night: The Saturday Book (Every Day with April & Mae)

Gr 1-3--April and Mae get together for Saturday movie night at April's house. Even though they are best friends, they do not share the same likes and dislikes. Mae brings over pizza with pineapple and pepper toppings to accommodate both of their tastes. April selects a scary movie that she knows her friend will like. Simple sentence structures, with one- and two-syllable words, make this story accessible to emerging readers ready for slightly longer stories with deeper content. The brightly colored illustrations effectively convey the range of emotions felt by the girls over the course of the evening--from joy at seeing each other to concern about the movie's content. Mae articulates the story's central theme: "Friends do not have to like all the same things... Friends just have to like each other." The characters' actions reinforce the point, but the narrative fails to address the fact that being a friend sometimes means putting the needs of the other person before your own. After trying to watch Mae's scary movie, a fearful April ends up spending part of the evening hiding under the kitchen table with Mae's cat. This seems like a missed opportunity for Mae. VERDICT The story helps children understand that best friends can have different interests, but it remains silent on the value of compromise.--Jenny Andrus