You’ll Always Have a Friend; What To Do When The Lonelies Come
In my family, ‘a book’ is usually the answer to most questions. Where can I find information about Botswana? A book. I need something to do because I’m bored. Get a book. I don’t know what to do about this problem with my friend. Remember when we read about this character in a book and how she handled it? We have books all over the house that we all turn to, plus a library within a few blocks walking distance that houses more books and our favorite local bookseller is an easy mile walk down the road. Books. So when kids tell me they don’t know what to do because they are scared that their grandparent is really sick, that they have a hard time at recess because no one will play with them, or that they are bored and need an adventure, I like to have books to hand them to help them. When You’ll Always Have A Friend; What To Do When The Lonelies Come by Emily Ley landed on my desk, I found that I have another book to add to my toolbox for answering questions.
You’ll Always Have a Friend; What To Do When The Lonelies Come is a picture book written for preschool and early elementary aged children. The author explores various situations where children experience loneliness and different ways to work through them. The text is told in a gentle rhyme scheme, allowing early readers to participate. The illustrations are soft and inclusive of all of God’s children, including a child with a cochlear implant and one in a wheelchair. Children are assured that they are valued and loved, that they can reach out to others for connection, and that their sacred worth isn’t reliant upon anything, as they should be exactly who they are as they were made without mistakes.
This book would make a lovely addition to your shelves. You can pull it out for a bedtime stories and prayers session. You could use it in a nursery school ministry where you invite guest readers to share a story with the class. It would be lovely included in your pew basket materials. It would be a nice companion to conversations about how God expects us to treat others (so that we can avoid the lonelies). I would even team it with a stuffy and a backpack so that it could be sent home with a different child each week to visit their home and share a bit about that child’s life, further helping connection and the erasure of lonelies. You’ll find a bunch of uses for this sweet little book!
