Illustrator: Buffie Biddle
Author: Lee Cherry
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
Genre: Children's Fiction
Source: Author Provided
My Review:
The author reached out to ask if I would be willing to read and review The Unique Friendship of Grover and Steve. Obviously, I said yes, because here we are.
First, the illustrator did a nice job with the illustrations. They are bright and fun, and children will be drawn to them.
The story itself, while having a good message, is just okay. The story's point is that you can be friends no matter what you look like. The story was repetitive and drove the point home, but this reader was confused as to what age/grade level the author was gearing the story toward. It has a prologue, and headings, which in a children's book is just weird. The other oddity is that the story tells you everything, you don't feel anything. But, you are told the animals whisper and chuckle among "Grover's kind," but you are not told what they say specifically. It's forty pages and the only interaction the animals have with an adult is with a hunter with a gun. Again, what age level are we aiming this toward?
In the end, the message is good, and the point that everyone can be friends is made again. It is a message we all need to hear, especially with things being so divisive.
★★★/5
Synopsis (Goodreads):
On the Great Plains, we find Grover, a donkey and Steve, an ostrich, who are the best of friends despite their differences.
The other animals on the plains just cannot understand how they are even friends. Donkeys and ostriches are just too different!
For Grover and Steve, while there are many differences between the two, what's most important to them is the bond of friendship.
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