The Best Friends Club: A Lizzie and Harold Story - Hardcover

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- Another story about the friendship between Lizzie and Harold (Lothrop, 1985). This book deals with the problems exclusiveness can cause. Lizzie's rules for the club exclude everyone--even Harold. She then discovers that a one-person club is not much fun. The result is a No Rules Club--which suits everyone. Text and illustration work well together in this story that explores how possessiveness in friendship can create difficulties. Both Harold and Lizzie have distinct personalities, and they solve their own problems without adult intervention. The watercolor illustrations both soften and enlarge the conflict that is at the center of the story. The depiction of how to play "running bases" is confusing and intrusive to the story, but children may enjoy learning a new version of what some know as "keepaway." While many will already have a more mature understanding of the reciprocal nature of friendship, this book can serve as a reminder and perhaps aid in home or classroom discussion when problems erupt. If you're looking for cultural diversity, it seems to be missing here. Perhaps Harold is Asian-American and perhaps there are some black children in the background, but it's difficult to be sure. A solid, useful, but lackluster easy reader. --Carol A. Edwards, East Central Regional Library, Cambridge, Minn.
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