Reviews - My Friend Amy & My Friend Jamal
National Literacy Association
The Guide to Literacy Resources Spring 2012
These two glorious picture books are a joyful and exuberant portrayal of friendship and show how children from different cultural backgrounds celebrate and share those differences.
Through Joseph's description of Jamal and his family, we learn so much about Jamal's culture - although it's done in such a gentle way that the reader almost soaks it up without realising quite how much factual information they are absorbing... In My Friend Amy, Monifa, whose family is originally from West Africa describes her best friend, Amy, whose family is from China....
These delightful books show that the things that we have in common are far greater than the things that set us apart. Vibrant illustrations and full-colour photographs featuring real chldren with proper gap-toothed grins, good-sized text in easy-to-follow boxes, these books are a complete joy from start to finish and a positive reflection of Britain's rich and varied multi-cultural society.
Click here to visit the National Literacy Association website
Resource Links
This book is superb. From its brilliant colours to its frank honesty, My Friend Jamal hits the right chord. It accurately and respectfully describes the Somalian culture through the eyes of a young boy...
Bookfest Ireland
This is essentially a story of friendship. Amy and Monifa are best friends since their first day at school; they both love art, dressing up and animals. One is Chinese and one West African, and ethnicity is explored without dominating this portrayal of friendship. By emphasising the common interests that the two girls enjoy together, cultural differences can be observed without being the only story, and on this basis the book succeeds. The images are a colourful mix of photographs, loose sketching and digital collage, from this young Canadian illustrator.
Letterbox Library
Amy and Monifa, Jamal and Joseph were all born in the UK – but Amy is Chinese and Jamal is Somali. They have similarities and differences. They are best friends.
Superb explorations of friendship across cultures. Enchanting!
Resource Links
This book is superb. From its brilliant colours to its frank honesty, My Friend Jamal hits the right chord. It accurately and respectfully describes the Somalian culture through the eyes of a young boy....
The author does an excellent job of handling sensitive topics like the war in Somalia and respectfully showcases elements of the Somali culture... I would recommend this book for all school and public libraries.
KA, Books for Keeps****
This is a delightful and interesting book about two young friends called Joseph and Jamal. They both come from very different backgrounds, religion and culture. Their friendship transcends these differences.
The story of this enjoyable relationship is written in a very poignant, natural and spontaneous way as it is explored by two small children finding out about each other. It deals with their acceptance of the fact that they can still be close friends although there are many areas of their lives that are different.
The children’s parents also play a positive role in supporting and helping to satisfying their innocent enquiries. The text is succinct, simple and direct. The author shows skill and sensitivity throughout the book whilst avoiding a patronising tone.
In summary the book will be a good addition to any school library and also prove useful for reading at home. The Illustrations are a combination of real photographs and artwork using bright and bold colours which help to bring the text to life.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre 2010 Best Books for Kids & Teens
My Friend Mei Jing
Bookhaven, April 2008
I love this picture book! It is an ideal story for discussing cross-cultural friendships with pre-readers and young readers. Joseph tells about the two families in a straight forward way free of bias and ethnocentricity. Anna McQuinn covers a lot of topics in this little book: tolerance of different religions, refugees and civil war, English as a Second language, and differences within a culture and religion –
Although at first glance the illustrations and photographs didn't appeal to me, as soon as I read the story I saw how well they tie together. The illustrations, a combination of photography and art, are bright and bold, and complement the narrative.
Despite the serious undertones in the story, it consistently remains light-hearted and age-appropriate. It is refreshing to see a children's book addressing the topic of cultural diversity in such a non-judgmental way. Many adults would benefit from reading this book too!
Saffron Tree
The book is a boy’s narration of his culturally diverse yet completely uncomplicated friendship with another boy his age. In other words it is a celebration of an unadulterated friendship that oversteps borders, religion and culture.
Our little narrator, Joseph, introduces to us readers, his friend Jamal of Somali origin, however, born in the same hospital as him, the same month! After sharing with us the staples of their friendship built on activities and interests that are typical to boys their age, Joseph lets us into more unexpected specifics…
What catches the reader’s attention is the non-judgmental and intrigued tone with which the small boy speaks.
This book can be an ideal pick for discussing cross-cultural friendships with children. The details though raw are real and gentle. The illustrations are a combination of photography and art – bold, colorful and explicit, just as the front cover indicates. A wonderful work that showcases how children adjust and adapt to strikingly contrasting cultural canvases while holding on to their own individualistic identities, something that nature and puerility seem to take care of.
School Library Journal
I LOVED this one. Want to know why? Because with a daughter adopted from China - I love anything that helps people to see how much the same we all really are - even though we have some fun cultural differences. That is exactly what this book does - geared to younger children. One of my favorites in this box!
BookBlog In this large, colorful book, a Nigerian second-grader tells the story of her best friend from school, who is Chinese. The girls share a love of arts and crafts, dressing up, and a desire to become veterinarians. Monifa describes aspects of Amy's culture: eating with chopsticks, the giving of red envelopes, Chinese coins, and the Dragon Dance, which both children perform for Chinese New Year. The story's authentic voice comes from simple declarative sentences: "Amy and I even have the same favorite colour—it's purple."
The brightly colored collages combine photographs of the girls' heads and hands with their cartoon bodies and depict them as they work with clay in arts and crafts at school or walk through an outdoor market with Amy's grandma, "Por Por."
The Willsden Bookshop
Monifa and Amy are two young girls from different backgrounds who have become best friends. Although both were born in this country, Monifa explains how they come to appreciate aspects of their distinctive West African and Chinese cultural heritages, from the meaning of their names, to the special foods and family traditions they learn about. Using the same successful format of 'My Friend Jamal', photographs are combined with colourful collage and panels of text to give a feeling of warmth and authenticity to the cross-cultural friendship which is described.
Bookfest Ireland 2009
This is essentially a story of friendship. Amy and Monifa are best friends since their first day at school; they both love art, dressing up and animals. One is Chinese and one West African, and ethnicity is explored without dominating this portrayal of friendship. By emphasising the common interests that the two girls enjoy together, cultural differences can be observed without being the only story, and on this basis the book succeeds.
The images are a colourful mix of photographs, loose sketching and digital collage, from this young Canadian illustrator.
Letterbox Library
Amy and Monifa, Jamal and Joseph were all born in the UK – but Amy is Chinese and Jamal is Somali. They have similarities and differences. They are best friends.
Superb explorations of friendship across cultures. Enchanting!
The Guide to Literacy Resources Spring 2012
These two glorious picture books are a joyful and exuberant portrayal of friendship and show how children from different cultural backgrounds celebrate and share those differences.
Through Joseph's description of Jamal and his family, we learn so much about Jamal's culture - although it's done in such a gentle way that the reader almost soaks it up without realising quite how much factual information they are absorbing... In My Friend Amy, Monifa, whose family is originally from West Africa describes her best friend, Amy, whose family is from China....
These delightful books show that the things that we have in common are far greater than the things that set us apart. Vibrant illustrations and full-colour photographs featuring real chldren with proper gap-toothed grins, good-sized text in easy-to-follow boxes, these books are a complete joy from start to finish and a positive reflection of Britain's rich and varied multi-cultural society.
Click here to visit the National Literacy Association website
Resource Links
This book is superb. From its brilliant colours to its frank honesty, My Friend Jamal hits the right chord. It accurately and respectfully describes the Somalian culture through the eyes of a young boy...
Bookfest Ireland
This is essentially a story of friendship. Amy and Monifa are best friends since their first day at school; they both love art, dressing up and animals. One is Chinese and one West African, and ethnicity is explored without dominating this portrayal of friendship. By emphasising the common interests that the two girls enjoy together, cultural differences can be observed without being the only story, and on this basis the book succeeds. The images are a colourful mix of photographs, loose sketching and digital collage, from this young Canadian illustrator.
Letterbox Library
Amy and Monifa, Jamal and Joseph were all born in the UK – but Amy is Chinese and Jamal is Somali. They have similarities and differences. They are best friends.
Superb explorations of friendship across cultures. Enchanting!
Resource Links
This book is superb. From its brilliant colours to its frank honesty, My Friend Jamal hits the right chord. It accurately and respectfully describes the Somalian culture through the eyes of a young boy....
The author does an excellent job of handling sensitive topics like the war in Somalia and respectfully showcases elements of the Somali culture... I would recommend this book for all school and public libraries.
KA, Books for Keeps****
This is a delightful and interesting book about two young friends called Joseph and Jamal. They both come from very different backgrounds, religion and culture. Their friendship transcends these differences.
The story of this enjoyable relationship is written in a very poignant, natural and spontaneous way as it is explored by two small children finding out about each other. It deals with their acceptance of the fact that they can still be close friends although there are many areas of their lives that are different.
The children’s parents also play a positive role in supporting and helping to satisfying their innocent enquiries. The text is succinct, simple and direct. The author shows skill and sensitivity throughout the book whilst avoiding a patronising tone.
In summary the book will be a good addition to any school library and also prove useful for reading at home. The Illustrations are a combination of real photographs and artwork using bright and bold colours which help to bring the text to life.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre 2010 Best Books for Kids & Teens
My Friend Mei Jing
Bookhaven, April 2008
I love this picture book! It is an ideal story for discussing cross-cultural friendships with pre-readers and young readers. Joseph tells about the two families in a straight forward way free of bias and ethnocentricity. Anna McQuinn covers a lot of topics in this little book: tolerance of different religions, refugees and civil war, English as a Second language, and differences within a culture and religion –
Although at first glance the illustrations and photographs didn't appeal to me, as soon as I read the story I saw how well they tie together. The illustrations, a combination of photography and art, are bright and bold, and complement the narrative.
Despite the serious undertones in the story, it consistently remains light-hearted and age-appropriate. It is refreshing to see a children's book addressing the topic of cultural diversity in such a non-judgmental way. Many adults would benefit from reading this book too!
Saffron Tree
The book is a boy’s narration of his culturally diverse yet completely uncomplicated friendship with another boy his age. In other words it is a celebration of an unadulterated friendship that oversteps borders, religion and culture.
Our little narrator, Joseph, introduces to us readers, his friend Jamal of Somali origin, however, born in the same hospital as him, the same month! After sharing with us the staples of their friendship built on activities and interests that are typical to boys their age, Joseph lets us into more unexpected specifics…
What catches the reader’s attention is the non-judgmental and intrigued tone with which the small boy speaks.
This book can be an ideal pick for discussing cross-cultural friendships with children. The details though raw are real and gentle. The illustrations are a combination of photography and art – bold, colorful and explicit, just as the front cover indicates. A wonderful work that showcases how children adjust and adapt to strikingly contrasting cultural canvases while holding on to their own individualistic identities, something that nature and puerility seem to take care of.
School Library Journal
I LOVED this one. Want to know why? Because with a daughter adopted from China - I love anything that helps people to see how much the same we all really are - even though we have some fun cultural differences. That is exactly what this book does - geared to younger children. One of my favorites in this box!
BookBlog In this large, colorful book, a Nigerian second-grader tells the story of her best friend from school, who is Chinese. The girls share a love of arts and crafts, dressing up, and a desire to become veterinarians. Monifa describes aspects of Amy's culture: eating with chopsticks, the giving of red envelopes, Chinese coins, and the Dragon Dance, which both children perform for Chinese New Year. The story's authentic voice comes from simple declarative sentences: "Amy and I even have the same favorite colour—it's purple."
The brightly colored collages combine photographs of the girls' heads and hands with their cartoon bodies and depict them as they work with clay in arts and crafts at school or walk through an outdoor market with Amy's grandma, "Por Por."
The Willsden Bookshop
Monifa and Amy are two young girls from different backgrounds who have become best friends. Although both were born in this country, Monifa explains how they come to appreciate aspects of their distinctive West African and Chinese cultural heritages, from the meaning of their names, to the special foods and family traditions they learn about. Using the same successful format of 'My Friend Jamal', photographs are combined with colourful collage and panels of text to give a feeling of warmth and authenticity to the cross-cultural friendship which is described.
Bookfest Ireland 2009
This is essentially a story of friendship. Amy and Monifa are best friends since their first day at school; they both love art, dressing up and animals. One is Chinese and one West African, and ethnicity is explored without dominating this portrayal of friendship. By emphasising the common interests that the two girls enjoy together, cultural differences can be observed without being the only story, and on this basis the book succeeds.
The images are a colourful mix of photographs, loose sketching and digital collage, from this young Canadian illustrator.
Letterbox Library
Amy and Monifa, Jamal and Joseph were all born in the UK – but Amy is Chinese and Jamal is Somali. They have similarities and differences. They are best friends.
Superb explorations of friendship across cultures. Enchanting!
