How do you make friends if you’re a shy introvert?  It’s not that you don’t want friends, it’s that you’re never quite sure how to proceed.

The charming Edmond: The Moonlit Party by Astrid Desbordes and illustrated  by Marc Boutavant (Enchanted Lion Books) tells the tale of how Edmond, a lonely squirrel and pompom hat maker, learns how to make friends.

 

Edmond lives in a tree with George, the owl, who loves to dress up in costumes.

Harry the bear also lives in the tree and he loves to throw parties.  Harry’s parties are THE best in the neighborhood.  Edmond wasn’t invited, and didn’t know what to do, so he makes his famous nut jam.

The aroma attracts the more social George who urges Edmond to go to the party with him.

What I loved most about this book is how it offers a whimsical look at how to live in community, how to create a neighborhood.  All the characters are eccentric in their individual ways, but they accept and celebrate their differences.  The tree is like an apartment building, so even though it’s set in the forest, it has the feel of an urban neighborhood.  It manages to give an organic feel to city living.

I live in the community Bridge Meadows, an intergenerational community that supports families adopting children out of the foster care system.  People here are creative and compassionate, but we all have our own way of being.  This book is as relevant to the adults here as it is to the children.  George reached out to Edmond.  It just takes one person reaching out to another to make life more interesting for everyone.

In a world that’s increasingly impersonal, this story provides a delightful look at how to make friends and inspire conversations.

When I read it to a child, we spend time talking about how each character differs from the other, how each one seems to have a unique way of living.  They are vivid and detailed.  Marc Boutavant uses bright colors and playful drawings to bring an odd assortment of neighbors together in harmony.

Astrid Desbordes received her degree in Philosophy, which is not surprising, since her characters tend to have a philosophical points of view.  She became a book editor in both the humanities and children’s literature.  She’s published work for both adults and children.  One of her most notable other children’s book, Daydreams of a Solitary Hamster was also published by Enchanted Lion Books.

Marc Boutavant is an award-winning author and illustrator. He’s drawn picture books, comics, and editorial illustration.

Enchanted Lion Books is a stellar publisher of children’s books. You can keep up with them through their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=enchanted%20lion%20books 

Hope you get to reach out to someone different today — or you have someone reach out to you.

Thanks for reading my blog!

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This Blog is a Children’s Book Week Champion.  Children’s Book Week is May 2 – 8, 2016.

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Voting opened March 8 at ccbookawards.com for the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Last year over 1.3 million votes were cast.  Let’s see if we can surpass that number in 2016.

 

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children’s Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.

You can get free downloads of both the poster and the new bookmark on their website:

http://www.bookweekonline.com/