Be a Friend

An endearing picture book about an extraordinary boy who has an excessive fascination with Marcel Marceau, a famous French mime. Without using words, Dennis finds a way to communicate and tell stories, using only his body. “Some children would show and tell in class. Dennis would mime instead.” Dennis would mime being an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. He could work up a sweat miming a ride on a bicycle. He was even happy to be a tree while his classmates climbed a tree. But sometimes, even happy little boys who are content not saying a word, can get lonely, or even feel invisible. Enter an equally extraordinary girl named Joy, who sees Dennis kick an invisible ball and she catches it. Who extraordinary children who see the world the same way, never speaking a word, simply because “friends don’t have to”. As an award winning author and illustrator having published more than two hundred books, Salina Yoon knows children’s books. The font is bold black with the exception of one word (such as imaginary, lonely, invisible, and friends) per page that is in caps and bold red. She knows how to capture children’s attention as well as their hearts. From Dennis’ too-large-for-his-own-head black top hat to his chubby, white-gloved hands, cuteness abounds on every page. Yoon also illustrates the other classmates as having their own unique interests. Yoon introduces young readers to a lesser known art of mimery. Using the inside covers of both the front and the back to illustrate specific classic mime routines, children can try miming and see if they too can be the next Marcel Marceau. We only know Dennis idealizes Marcel Marceau because of a poster hung in his wardrobe along with his several black and white striped shirts, white gloves, shoes, and top hats. Even if children aren’t interested in mimes, they’ll find that Dennis’ extraordinary personality isn’t so different from theirs, and may find they relate to the feelings of loneliness or feelings of being different from other kids. Dennis is more than a mime, he’s a thief sure to steal away hearts of many readers.