The king and queen invite a young boy to tea every day. Each time he asks if he may bring a friend, and each time the king and queen tell him that a friend of his is a friend of theirs. He brings an assortment of animals to tea until finally the king and queen are invited to have tea with the boy and the animals at the zoo.
The story is told in a loose rhyme that may be fun to read out loud. The artwork by Beni Montresor is composed of warm colors and black lines, and it's vibrant, jewel-like illustrations won the 1956 Caldecott medal. May I Bring a Friend has a quirky, juvenile sort of charm to it while being simple and repetitive. Kids may find it appealing, but aside from its unique illustrations there is not much depth of story. The people are polite, the boy is kind to animals. Everyone has tea. The best simple children's books manage to say something significant in few words. Unfortunately, May I Bring a Friend takes a lot of words to say very little.
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Review by Lauren Shearer
Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. e: italic; line-height: 20px; font-size: 10pt;">You can read more of her reviewsheree: italic; line-height: 20px; font-size: 10pt;">.
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