Once again, unless you sing the Beatles tune, children won't enjoy it that much. Or maybe I'm wrong. At least this illustrator did a LOVELY job of conveying the light and color a true friend brings into our lives. Seriously, the illustrations are what drew me in! (and hence the higher review) ( )

I really wanted to love this book, because "With a Little Help from my Friends" is one of my favourite songs by the Beatles, but overall it was a bit of a let down. I guess I was just spoiled by the perfection of the scene in Across the Universe which uses the song to so aptly depict the early stages of Jude's friendship with the rambunctious group of college lads led by Max. The book follows a friendship between two young girls, showing them meeting at school, their adventures together, and all the fun parts of being young. We then see them cope with "when my love is away", as one of the girl's families moves, and their friendship must adapt to the distance. As someone who has had to leave her friends many times, these scenes hit pretty close to home, but also made me remember how I've been able to keep in touch with so many of them over the years and across the vast distance of Canada. So maybe the book is more powerful than I gave it credit for, even if I still don't entiely like it. ( )