You Will Be My Friend!

Lucille Beatrice Bear returns in this second picture-book devoted to her adventures, following upon Children Make Terrible Pets. Announcing one day at the breakfast table that she intends to make a friend, Lucy sets out into the woods, attempting to ingratiate herself with every creature she encounters. Unfortunately her efforts lead only to disaster, as she accidentally destroys other animals' homes, or makes inopportune remarks. Eventually giving up in despair, Lucy is thrilled when someone asks her to be his friend...

Every bit as entertaining as its predecessor, You Will Be My Friend! features the same warmhearted but overeager and slightly oblivious ursine heroine, who once again enters eagerly into a new project - in the earlier show more book it was pet ownership, here it is friendship - only to find things not going exactly to plan. Peter Brown's tale offers an amusing object lesson in the wrong way to approach friendship, demonstrating that attempting to force oneself on others is probably the worst way to go about it. The artwork here is humorous and heartwarming, easily engaging the reader's attention. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed Children Make Terrible Pets, or who is looking for children's stories about friendship. show less

Lucille Beatrice Bear greets the new day with joy. She flounces into the kitchen and announces to her mother that she is going to make a new friend that day. After breakfast she puts her plan into action. Although Beatrice is enthusiastic and friendly, things don't exactly work out. Lucille tries a little too hard. Without realizing it, she commits social errors, such as climbing into a tree which turns out to be her new friend's lunch, or flopping into a pond to play with some water friends and splashing all the water out. She means well, but she can't pick up on those subtle social cues that would grant her access to new friends. As the mother of young children, I appreciate how masterfully the author captures a difficult topic. Some show more children intuitively pick up these social skills, but some children don't, sweet and loving as they are.

Eventually, Lucille becomes frustrated. She decides the only way to make a new friend is to command it to happen, so she begins to start barking orders at the other animals to be her friend and play her games. You can imagine how that goes. Just when the poor bear is about to give up in despair, a funky flamingo flies into her path. They hit it off immediately. Soon, Lucille is doing all of the friendly activities she dreamed of, happy and loved.

The author wraps up the book with three friendly tips on meeting and making friends: be yourself, , and don't command others to be your friend. The lesson in the story is important and also difficult; how do you teach about the subjective techniques of getting people to like you? This book is a good place to start. It doesn't require Lucille to change or learn how to adapt to others; it celebrates her wonderful unique personality and encourages her to be patient and be herself, because she will find someone who understands her. It endorses unique personalities, and teaches kids that everyone can and should be loved. In addition to the wonderful subject, the illustrations are amazing. Humorous and colorful, with facial expressions and body gestures that convey so much subtext, the pictures are inviting and lovely. I became a big fan of this book in my first few minutes of reading it. show less

Lucille is a bear that is a little too excited to make new friends. "You will be my friend" is such a good book for elementary school aged children because even they know the feeling of trying to fit in or be liked. This book's illustrations are so funny! They are my favorite part of the book because they add to the fun of reading it out loud.

An obnoxious bear tries to push the animals around her into friendship in ways that are very counterproductive. I found her just as objectionable as most of the animals.

This is about Lucy the bear and she wants to make a new friend so she goes through the forest trying to make friends with all types of animals. She becomes discouraged when no one will be her friend, so she reminds herself to be herself and she makes a friend with a flamingo in the end. I like that this teaches about friendship and that you need to be yourself and not change for others. I would use this for kindergarten to 3rd grade because it has a fun reading format.

Lucy is becoming one of my favorite characters. Her energy and unbridled enthusiasm jump off the page. I especially love the spread where she tries to calm herself down. You have to smile while reading this.

Gr K-3, Well-intentioned and eager bear Lucy wakes up with a plan … she is going to make a new friend today! Lucy sets out into the forest determined and optimistic that she is definitely going to find that special new friend. Things get off to a bumpy start. Brown’s voice as both the narrator and Lucy, along with his expressive colorful illustrations help to further tell the story. Lucy reminds us all of that familiar awkward feeling of trying to make a new friend. After asking an irritated ostrich “What is it like to fly?” and going to what even Lucy considers outrageous lengths to try and fit in with fellow forest critters (this includes dressing up like a fellow kangaroo), Lucy discovers she can’t seem to do or say the show more right thing. If only making a new friend were as easy as it sounds. She turns to more drastic measures, demanding friendships left and right, resulting in a despaired Lucy. But have no fear, it ends on a positive note. A valuable story about how we find friends when we aren’t even expecting it. Brown uses hand drawn colored illustrations overlayed with dye-cut conversation bubbles for dialogue. The dialogue bubbles change color and shape for when a character is talking or the narrator. They are great for beginning readers to follow along with the conversation. The interplay of narrative voice and characters throughout the story would make a great example for students on narrative voice in a story. And are you looking for some Mo Willems read-a-likes? Peter Brown is here! show less