The Word for Friend
Written by Aidan Cassie
Illustrated by Aidan Cassie
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
A picture book about making new friends in new places—with gentle themes of immigration and English as a second language.
Kemala the pangolin is sure she’s going to make friends at her new school in her new country. After all, Kemala loves to talk. The kids at school like talking, too—but their words are all different. This country speaks a language Kemala doesn’t know.
At first, no one understands Kemala, either. This realization makes her curl into a little ball, like most pangolins do when they’re nervous. But a classmate helps draw her out with an art project that doubles as a vocabulary exchange. Soon, Kemala is learning the most universal language of all: friendship.
Primary ISBN: 9780374310462
Publication Date: June 2020
Available As: Hardcover, eBook
Picture Book, Age 04 or older
Community Represented: Animals/Allegory, Unspecified (South Asian)
Themes: Allegory, Animals, Arts, Cross-Group Friendship, Education & Literacy, Family Relationship: Parents, Identity: Multilingual, Multilingual: Esperanto Featured Words
Setting: Unspecified
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Immigrant
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