How to Be a Friend

Sarah Ayoub

Mimi Purnell

HarperCollins, 2023

24pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781460763230

Do you know what it takes to be a friend,

someone on whom someone else depends?

Just a few ingredients, tips and tricks,

Make the perfect friendship mix!

With Term 2 beginning in many schools across the country, many of the friendship groups formed at the beginning of the year will be well established.  Buit with school holidays come inevitable change as new students come to the school and as well as whatever has caused the move to contend with, there is also and always the anxiety about making new friends. Whether it’s primary school, secondary school or even adulthood, that thought of having to make new connections, particularly in a relatively settled community can be daunting.  

So  this is a timely reminder to revisit the notion of what it means to be a friend including reaching out to newcomers to embrace them and celebrate what they add to the mix.  Written in rhyme, and focusing on the positive things friends do for each other, it offers the chance for each of us to reflect on how we manage and maintain our friendships, behaviours that we can take with us our entire lives to build the sorts of relationships that endure for decades.