Review: A Friend For Ruby

A Friend For Ruby is a magical story about
friendship, family and kindness. The sort of kindness that requires looking
outside of yourself, and where small actions can make a big difference in every
way.
Ruby finds a lonely, hungry, magical creature on the beach. Glad to have a
friend when the girls at school are so unfriendly, Ruby takes this creature
home.  She keeps it hidden from Granma on a bed of straw, inside her cubby.

Of course,
a magical hungry beach creature needs more than a cubby house for survival!  Soon both Granma AND new friend Sonya from the bakery, become involved in the
creature’s feeding and care.

With an
ethereal quality throughout, this book takes readers on a fantastical visual
journey. The magic of this mesmerising creature is a wonderful distraction from
the harder parts of Ruby’s life. And through this distraction, good things seem
to fall into place for Ruby.

The
illustrations are simply glorious, created with digital airbrushing and 2B
pencil among other things, to produce colour-and-light filled double spreads
that ignite the imagination and inspire wonder in every sense of the word!  This book is sumptuous. Delicate. Funny. Strong. Surprising. Gentle. Uplifting.
Perfect as an entrée for wider exploration of friendship and belonging.

Highly
recommended. Title: A Friend For Ruby Author: Sofie Laguna Illustrator: Marc McBride Publisher: Allen & Unwin, $24.99 Publication Date: 29 August 2023 Format: Hardcover ISBN: 9781761067648 For ages: 4 - 8 Type: Picture Book