The Friendly Four

Celebrate friendship with Coretta Scott King Award winners Eloise Greenfield and Jan Spivey Gilchrist!

Drum is worried that summer will be a bummer until Dorene, Louis, and Rae enter his life unexpectedly. Together they embark on an unforgettable summer of discovery and creative play.

With free-verse poetry perfect for reading aloud and inspired illustrations, this picture book by the legendary author/illustrator team follows four children as they explore the bonds of friendship, family, and community.

"Fun for reading aloud." —Booklist

THE FRIENDLY FOUR

Celebrate summer with Coretta Scott King Award winners Eloise Greenfield and Jan Spivey Gilchrist!

Drum: Didn't I call this summer a bummer?

All: Not anymore, not anymore.

Drum: I was alone, and life was lonely.

All: But not anymore,

Drum: 'cause we're the Friendly Four!

When Drum, Dorene, Louis, and Rae enter one another's lives unexpectedly, they embark on an unforgettable summer of discovery and creative play together. With individual poems and poems for multiple voices, Eloise Greenfield follows four children as they explore the bonds of friendship, family, and community.

"This accessible and well-written book has a nostalgic tone." - School Library Journal

"Lively, occasionally rhyming poems celebrate the friendship of kids from different families. Fun for reading aloud." - Booklist

"Idealistic and nostalgic Perfect for classroom readers’ theater or as a way for a young child to share reading with an older sibling or parent." - Horn Book Magazine

"A lively tribute to children’s imagination as well as an inviting introduction to free verse." - Kirkus Reviews

"Has an open accessibility, with its big print and visually inviting pages, and an upbeat warmth." - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books