About the Holiday
Friendship Month has been celebrated ever since the Oddfellows organization was established in England in the 1730s. Their official title is The Grand Order of Oddfellows Friendly Society (or GUOOFS), and it is an international organization dedicated to philanthropy, charity, and, of course, friendship. All month long people are encouraged to spend more time with their friends, get in touch with those they haven’t seen or talked to in a while, and to reach out to others who are alone or need a friend. As school gets underway, there are plenty of opportunities for kids to meet new people and form friendships – some of which may last a lifetime.
Thank you to Scholastic for sending me a copy of this book for review!
Let’s Be Friends: An Acorn Book (Pine School Pals #1)
Written by Laine Falk | Illustrated by Shannon Wright
It’s Tate’s first day at Pine School, and as he stands at the front of his new second-grade class while Ms. Perez introduces him, he feels nervous. A couple of the kids say “Hey” and “Hi.” Tate takes his seat, only to realize that he has no crayons to complete the worksheet. Both of his tablemates eagerly offer to share theirs. The day continues, and with each new experience, from class jobs to navigating the lunch room, Tate discovers how welcoming and helpful his classmates are.
Tate feels anxious about having nothing for show and tell, but then has an idea and raises his hand. He shares that “everyone has been really kind today.” Sara tells him, “that’s because we’re all pals here,” and Jack echoes her sentiment. Ms. Perez reminds the kids that they need to think of a class name. Tate offers “Pine School Pals,” and his classmates cheer and chant “Pine School Pals! Pine School Pals!” Four more short, graphic-novel-style stories follow with realistic situations that explore friendship, keeping promises, conflict, teamwork, and inclusivity.
In “Dress-Up Day Twins,” friends Niki and Sara are excited to dress up as twin puppies for “Dress Like an Animal Day” at school. But when Sara sees a unicorn costume at the store, she changes her mind. The next day Niki’s exuberance to be twins makes Sara blurt out that she doesn’t want to be a puppy, making Niki cry. How can they mend the rift and still have fun on the special day?
In “Rescuing Ribbit,” a tussle between Theo and Zoey over who’s going to clean the class pet’s tank results in the frog escaping. Searching for the missing Ribbit separately is going nowhere. If the two team up, will their idea reveal Ribbit’s whereabouts before Ms. Perez gets back?
“Shark Show Disaster” begins with Malik excited to perform in the school play about sharks. The class has even made shark fin headbands to wear. While playing before school starts, though, Malik becomes covered in mud and his headband is torn. Can Malik’s friends help him recover in time to join the show?
In “The Club,” when Riley and Ava wear the same color shirt, they decide to form a club with three special rules for who can join. Nora thinks the club looks like fun and asks to join, but she’s not wearing the required yellow shirt, so Ava and Riley run off laughing. The next day, Nora wears a yellow shirt but is not in compliance with the two other rules. Will a gentle reminder by Ms. Perez help Riley and Ava see their actions in a new light?
Following the stories, readers are invited to learn how to draw Tate with instructions and illustrated steps. Then kids are prompted to write their own story about how they would make Tate feel welcome if he was new to their class.
Laine Falk’s engaging and conversational stories present common classroom situations that readers will immediately recognize. With an excellent ear for the way kids speak and communicate with others, Falk deftly navigates complex issues while showing how easy it can be to show kindness, understanding, cooperation, and helpfulness to create a positive experience for everyone. Children will appreciate the realistic examples of the worries all children experience, what they can say when conflicts arise, and how to get friendships back on track after a clash.
Children will feel right at home at Shannon Wright’s Pine School and among her second-grade class of students. Wright’s full-color illustrations take kids into a busy classroom and students’ homes as well as onto the school bus and playground. The students’ expressive faces also show a wide variety of emotions, making Let’s Be Friends a visually exciting and welcoming book that young readers will want to visit again and again. The book opens with a class picture that introduces the students, which allows kids to flip back to identify the classmates in group images and as the stories change. Color-coded speech bubbles also help readers orient themselves to the characters.
Welcoming, supportive, and exciting, Let’s Be Friends: An Acorn Book (Pine School Pals #1) offers new readers high-interest storylines, realistic dialogue, a design created for boosting reading confidence, and characters kids will care about. This first book in the series promises to entice young readers to search out more stories about their new Pine School pals! The series would be a welcome addition to public and school library collections as well as for home bookshelves.
Ages 4 – 6
Scholastic, 2026 | ISBN 979-8225069865
About the Author
Laine Falk writes fiction, nonfiction, and comics for kids. You can find a lot of her stories in Scholastic’s Storyworks 2 magazine for second graders. She loves to read novels, watch movies with her family, and play with her cats. Visit her at lainefalk.com.
About the Illustrator
Shannon Wright is an award winning illustrator and cartoonist based out of Richmond, Virginia. Visit her at shannon-wright.com.
You can purchase Let’s Be Friends: An Acorn Book (Pine School Pals #1) from these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop
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