My First Best Cousin Friend

 Title: My First Best Cousin Friend

Series: The Adventures of Khay-La-La Bookie and Gabby Goo #1

Author: Lynn C. Page

Publisher: Pagegirl 101 Publishing

Genre: Children's Fiction

My Review:

The beautifully designed cover instantly draws you into My First Best Cousin Friend by Lynn C. Page. Lynn is new to the writing scene. In addition to composing the story, she also illustrated the book. She describes herself as, "a mother, a wife, a Houstonian, an entrepreneur, as well as someone who is intoxicated by learning and creating new things."

Khay-La-La is excited that her best friend is coming to visit for the summer. Then Khay-La-La's mom delivers the news that Gabby is her first cousin. Khay-La-La does not quite comprehend what this means and worries that her friendship with Gabby will be different because of it. Once Gabby gets there, the girls are extremely busy Khay-La-La is not given a chance to express her feelings to Gabby. Will Khay-La-La let her doubts overshadow her fun?

My First Best Cousin Friend is written in a lyrical, sing-song style. The font is a bit larger and more attention-grabbing than that of a normal picture book.  Each page flows smoothly into the next. The words are appropriate for the age of the intended reader and will be pleasant to read aloud. The book is well-edited with minimal errors.

I love the illustrations in the story. Lynn has done a brilliant job of not only writing a delightful story but adding details that absolutely make the story pop. Each page tells a story of its own. The attention to even the slight details is incredible. 

This is a fun book that will keep the reader engaged from the beginning to the end. Most kids have cousins and may not understand they can be friends and cousins. (I have double cousins and that was fun to figure out and is fun to explain to people who have never heard of it!!) I would recommend this book to children from about 4 to 8 years of age. While the illustrations will appeal more to girls with its pink pages and unicorns, the story itself is so engaging it will delight both boys and girls. I would love to see this book placed in school and local libraries to get a broader readership. Be on the lookout for more in this series. 

Thank you to the author and Reedsy Discovery for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

★★★★/5

Synopsis:

My First Best Cousin Friend will open your little one’s understanding of family and friendships as they explore Khay-La-La Bookie and Gaby-Goo’s World! Khay-La-La Bookie and Gaby-Goo are best friends who love spending time together. However, their friendship is put to the test when Khay-La-La's mom tells her that Gabby is not her best friend but her first cousin. Of course, this causes some confusion for the girls and brings up important questions like:

Are they still going to be best friends?
Can you be best friends and cousins?
How does friendship change if you’re family?
And will they still have the same kind of fun now that they are first cousins?
This book offers an important opportunity to discuss family, friendship, and other relationship dynamics. Explaining family relations can be tough; this book offers an entertaining, exciting story and opens up this topic for discussion. Encourage your little one to ask questions and be ready with answers as you both enjoy this loving, wonderful take on what being family and friends really means!