Walter Had a Best Friend
by Deborah Underwood; illus. by Sergio Ruzzier
Preschool     Beach Lane/Simon    40 pp.    g
10/22     978-1-5344-7700-1     $18.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-7701-8    $10.99

Walter (a mouse-like creature) and Xavier (who resembles a duck) do everything together, including boating (their canoe has “X + W” carved into it) and hiking. When a quilled creature appears on the scene, however, Xavier’s attention turns to her. The close friendship ends, and Walter mourns the loss: “There was…a big hole in his heart where Xavier used to be.” But time passes, and one day Walter takes a hike alone, trying a new trail and making a new friend. Underwood’s story sensitively presents a common childhood occurrence, as evident in the title’s past tense: the disintegration of a friendship. The book’s pacing is superb and lets the story breathe. The single short sentence that chronicles the turning-away of Xavier is dispersed amongst four spreads, Ruzzier extending the five words with his warm and expressive watercolors to unfold the drama of a friendship dissolving. Walter’s sorrow, which includes bouts of anger, is given the same leisurely pace, making his return to the hiking trail after his time of grief immensely gratifying. The way Ruzzier captures the changing emotions on Walter’s face and the space the story gives to his time of “sad quiet” are honest and respectful to the interior lives of children. Details delight: Walter wears a stylish feathered hat and wraps his tail around a rung of his chair as he reads. Emotionally rewarding and cathartic.

From the September/October 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.