August 1 – Girlfriends Day

Happy Girlfriends Day!

There’s nothing like good girlfriends to hang-out with, have adventures with, and tell your secrets to.

Angelina and Alice written by Katharine Holabird and illustrated by Helen Craig (2006)

Fans of Angelina Ballerina will love this story about the tiny mouse with a dancer’s heart. Angelina met Alice and she knew they would be best friends. Alice loved to dance, do gymnastics, and she was good at all the things Angelina liked to do. Then one day while Angelina was practicing her handstand, she fell right on her bottom. All the kids laughed at her and then the worst thing happened… Alice giggled and ran off to play with the other kids. Angelina was heartbroken, until Alice tapped her on the shoulder in gym class and asked if they could be partners for the festival show their class was putting on. Alice helped Angelina with her handstands and their gym teacher taught them how to swing over the high bar and land on their feet. They learned how to work on the rings and the bars and how to do rhythmic gymnastics with colored ribbons. On the day of the festival, the class put on a fabulous display. Everyone was impressed. Mr. Hopper complimented the girls’ teamwork and they responded, ‘That’s because we’re such good friends’.

The Other Side written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E.B. Lewis (2001)

Clover and Annie live on opposite sides of a fence in a time when they may as well have lived on opposite sides of the world. Clover was an African-American girl and Annie was a White-American girl, living in the segregated south. Their mothers had told them to stay on their own side of the fence. After many days of staring at each other from their own sides of the fence, the girls get the courage to get close and talk to each other. They find out that they have a lot in common and spend many hours sitting on the fence. Then one day Annie jumps down and played jumprope with Clover and some of Clover’s other friends. They jumped rope until they couldn’t jump anymore and they all sat on that fence in one long line. Thinking out loud, Annie said ‘Someday somebody’s going to come along and knock this old fence down’. To which Clover responds, ‘Yeah… Someday’.

Two Speckled Eggs written and illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann (2014)

Read my review and recommendation HERE.