It's all about the body language in this enjoyable collaboration. Idle (Flora and the Flamingo, rev. 7/13; Witch Hazel, rev. 9/22) and Martinez-Neal (Alma and How She Got Her Name, rev. 5/18; Fry Bread, rev. 11/19) apply their signature styles to two children: a light-skinned child with a blond kewpie cut and a child with darker skin and a thatch of straight black hair. They stand on either side of a thick tree trunk that bisects the double-page spread, backs to each other and arms crossed. Children and tree are both rendered in soft graphite on creamy stock; the only colors are a teal oval that hovers over Idle's kid and a similar yellow one over Martinez-Neal's. What puts them at odds is a mystery, but Fogliano's (My Best Friend, rev. 3/20) lilting first line will have young readers speculating: "i really don't care what you think of my hair / or my eyes or my toes or my nose." As the text trots along, the children first look at each other, then engage in parallel play. They share their separate snacks, smiling, as their respective ovals begin to overlap. Meanwhile, the text never breaks from its rhythm as it modulates from what the characters don't care about to what they do, including sharing, playing fair, and each other's feelings: "i really do care about all of that stuff / i really do care a lot." Here the children embrace on a tire swing, together on the page with friendship now assured. Thoroughly charming notes from each illustrator close this winning outing. Vicky Smith September/October 2022 p.56(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

What matters most to best friends? It's not your nose or clothes; it's not your hair, your house, or what you eat for lunch. Using a lighthearted tone, two friends reject the outward indicators that many people use to judge others. Do you like polka dots or floral prints? Do you dance funny? When you paint a cow, does it look like a bunny? Best friends do not care. They do care about playing fair, about wishing and singing, about feeling sad, worried, or mad. Best friends like to play together, catch frogs carefully, or have a picnic. Fogliano's sprightly, rhythmic text sets a fun tone for exploring what really matters in friendship. While effective picture books grow from the combining of words and images, this book takes the collaboration a step further by drawing on the talents of real-life best friends and Caldecott honorees Idle and Martinez-Neal. In humorous notes, the two describe their artistic process and shared design of each page of the book. Using their favorite colors, teal and yellow, with graphite, the linocut illustrations seamlessly expand on Fogliano's narrative. The result is a warm, loving celebration of how to be a friend, and a successful artistic experiment.

Accompanying fervent text by Fogliano (My Best Friend) that tumbles forth in a burst of confessions, friends Idle (Witch Hazel) and Martinez-Neal (A Perfect Fit) team up to create a visual story about friendship. "I really don't care what you think of my hair/ or my eyes or my toes or my nose," begin rhyming lines, running through an ample list of attributes that the book seems to portray as superficialities. With soft graphite strokes and linocut highlights in teal and yellow, the illustrators draw two young children, portrayed with skin the color of the paper, who each sport blunt-cut hair and sturdy boots. They're leaning against the same tree, arms crossed, looking studiously away from each other. With every line, though, their hard feelings thaw, and they're soon playing together on the page, as the litany turns from "don't"s to "do"s and each speaker voices what's at stake in their friendship: "I really do care/ that you always play fair/ and you don't change the rules/ when I'm winning." While not every reader will be comfortable with a friend who offers sidelong critiques ("I really don't care if your lunches smell weird"), the alternating speakers' loyalty ("and I care that we're friends/ and I care that we're true"), and images of shared experience following conflict, add warmth to this testament to faithful companionship. Ages 3--6. Agents: (for Fogliano and Idle) Steven Malk, Writers House; (for Martinez-Neal) Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (Nov.)

A friendship book made by friends. Fogliano's title may prompt thoughts of Sendak's Pierre, who doesn't care--until he encounters a lion. There aren't any perilous felines in this picture book, however, and there are two protagonists. At first, one child occupies the verso, with teal highlights in the grayscale graphite-and-linocut illustrations. The other is on the recto, with yellow highlights. It appears they are at odds, with the gutter between them seeming to symbolize an emotional barrier as opening text reads, "i really don't care what you think of my hair / or my eyes or my toes or my nose." Soon, though, subtle changes in facial expressions and posturing reveal the friends' true feelings as Fogliano's deftly rhymed verses, which never miss a beat in their cadence or in their emotional resonance, help readers realize that while the friends don't care about surface matters like appearance, attire, or possessions, they do care about each other. Compositionally, they end up occupying shared space on the spreads and will doubtlessly take up residence in readers' hearts, too, with lines like "but mostly i care that you're you / and i'm me / and i care that we're us and i care that we're we" sealing the deal. Both children have skin the color of the page; one has darker hair, while the other has lighter hair. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Show you care by sharing this book with others. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.