About the Holiday
Do you have friends you haven’t seen or talked to in a while? Is there someone new at work or school who could use a friend to show them the ropes or grab lunch with? If so, this month’s holiday gives you the opportunity to reach out and say hi. Instituted a decade ago by the Oddfellows organization in the UK, Friendship Month is a super time to show kindness to those you know and those you don’t—yet!
All We Need
Written by Kathy Wolff | Illustrated by Margaux Meganck
In All We Need, Kathy Wolff and Margaux Meganck work in perfect harmony to show children that happiness resides in simple basics that satisfy our needs while nurturing us and bringing us together. Wolff’s lilting lyrical verses give Meganck a strong framework for her lovely illustrations that follow a group of children and their families from a park to a potluck community dinner. Each of Wolff’s verses are presented on two double-page spreads that invite readers to guess what necessity is being described before they turn the page. These poignant page turns also provide a short beat between around the answer that allows children to think a moment about its importance to them and others.
Image copyright Margaux Meganck, 2021, text copyright Kathy Wolff, 2021. Courtesy of Bloomsbury Children’s Books.
The book begins in a park with Maganck’s a mother, her toddler, and her daughter who is sitting against a tree and holding a dandelion in the foreground. The long view takes in a fountain splashpad. Wolff reveals, “All we need / is what’s found in the breeze, / in the stillness of nothing, in the rustle of trees, / when we take a deep breath, what’s not seen—but is there . . . / All we need . . ..” Turn the page and a close-up of the girl blowing the dandelion while her brother tries to capture the flying fluff reveals “. . . is air.”
Image copyright Margaux Meganck, 2021, text copyright Kathy Wolff, 2021. Courtesy of Bloomsbury Children’s Books.
The next page spread takes readers into the splashpad, where children cavort and a little girl is taking a drink break. An Asian mother watches her son enjoying the spray of the fountain. Turn the page and you can almost feel the cooling droplets as the kids revel in their fun. A couple of pages later, it’s time to leave and two families make their way down a city block towards home. Snapshots of the three main families cooking food will pique kids’ curiosity as to what they’re making and where they are going as following pages show them securing the meals for travel.
Image copyright Margaux Meganck, 2021, text copyright Kathy Wolff, 2021. Courtesy of Bloomsbury Children’s Books.
Readers discover that they are all going to the same place, and they greet each other with smiles and hugs. The kids help their parents decorate tables with flowers and set up the serving table with plates, bowls, and cups. Maganck’s illustration of the crowd that gathers to enjoy the food and camaraderie as well as Wolff’s appeal “to share” offers a welcome opportunity for readers and adults to talk about what kind of gathering it might be, when they have attended similar events, and what community events mean to them.
Image copyright Margaux Meganck, 2021, text copyright Kathy Wolff, 2021. Courtesy of Bloomsbury Children’s Books.
A heartening tribute to our universal bonds, All We Need is an eloquent invitation to appreciate life’s simple gifts and build community around them. The book would be a stirring addition to home, classroom, school, and public library collections.
Ages 3 – 8
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2021 | ISBN 978-1619638747
Discover more about Kathy Wolff and her books on her website.
To learn more about Margaux Meganck, her books, and her art, visit her website.
Friendship Month Activity
Give Me Your Hand! Puzzle
In this printable Give Me Your Hand! Puzzle, everyone is welcomed with a handshake. Offering friendship to all, the interchangeable pieces can be mixed and matched as the animals become buddies with one another.
Supplies
- Printable colored Give Me Your Hand! Puzzle
- Printable blank Give Me Your Hand! Puzzle
- Colored pencils or crayons
- Scissors
- Heavy Stock paper (optional)
- Poster board (optional)
- Glue (optional)
Directions
- Print the puzzle: to make the puzzle sturdier: Print on heavy stock paper or glue the page to poster board
- Color the pictures with colored pencils or crayons
- Cut the pieces apart
- Switch the pieces around to make many alternate pictures
You can find All We Need at these booksellers
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million
To support your local independent bookstore, order from
Picture Book Review
celebratepicturebooks.com 