My Brother is My Best Friend by Nicole Weaver, illustrations by Clara Batton Smith
Guardian Angel Publishing
ISBN: 978-1616334529
Published January 2014
Softcover, 20 pages

This is a cute book with lively and fun illustrations. Blake and Drake are twin brothers who do everything together. Winter and summer are their favorite seasons and we get to see the different activities they do during these seasons. The scenes are delightful and the depiction of the animals are adorable.

The story does not have a plot, but recounts the fun things these brothers do together highlighting their close relationship. What differentiates this book from others is that it's written in three languages: English (with black text) Spanish (with red text) and French (with blue text). So each sentence is written out in the three languages with the different colors. My son, who read the book, did not care for this. He did not want to read the story in all three languages, even though he goes to French school and could easily read the text in French. He's the kind of kid who picks up things fast and isn't crazy about books that try to "teach" him something. He wants to read for pleasure only. But other children may like this.

Because of the three languages the pages are filled with text. It can be confusing for a young child if they want to read it on their own, but it's alright if an adult is reading it to them. I understand that the author is encouraging the learning of other languages, but it may not be the way for some children to learn it. On the other hand, it's a book that is available to a wide audience because it's trilingual. So I can see the pros and cons to this system.

I want to mention that the author is giving a large portion of the book proceeds to a Haitian orphanage. Her own mother lost 13 cousins in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and therefore, she is donating to Mercy & Sharing who is providing food and shelter to Haiti's abandoned children.

So if you have a young child who loves languages, or has some exposure to them and you want to give him more, I suggest you pick up this book.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.

Website: www.nicoleweaverbooks.com
Blog: http://mysisterismybestfriend.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/micilia
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mybrotherismybestfriend

About the author:

Nicole Weaver was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti. She came to the United States when she was ten years old. She is fluent in Creole, French, Spanish, and English. She is a veteran teacher of French and Spanish. Her deep connection with family resulted in her writing and publishing, My Brother Is My Best Friend: A Trilingual Story, by Guardian Angel Publishing, January 2014. Weaver also penned two other children’s trilingual picture books entitled, My Sister Is My Best Friend, and Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle.

Reviewed by Laura & Son

Disclosure: Thanks to the author and Bostick Communications for sending us this book for review. We were not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

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