random house, 2015

How to Grow a Friend

written & illustrated by Sara Gillingham

A lovely metaphor teaches valuable lessons in how to treat others and make friendships blossom! Making a friend takes patience, care, and room to bloom—just like growing a flower. Soon your little gardeners will have their very own green thumbs for this most important of life skills.

select praise:

“Upbeat without glossing over the effort needed to see friendships through “rain and shine,” it’s a promising classroom readaloud.”

–Publishers Weekly

random house, 2015

How to Mend a Heart

written & illustrated by Sara Gillingham

A charming arts-and-crafts approach to dealing with first moments of heartbreak. Be it caused by a lost pet, a friend’s moving away, or even simple childhood injustice, Sara Gillingham understands the gentle touch needed to soothe a sore heart. Her fresh and whimsical design makes an enticing vehicle for her advice.

select praise:

“Gillingham follows the tend-friends-like-plants metaphor of How to Grow a Friend with a book built around the idea that with ‘gentle hands, the right tools, and lots of patches,’ one can fix emotional hurts. Her hero is a boy whose stuffed elephant has been torn to bits by a puppy, and she shows him stitching the toy back together over several pages. Smartly, the story emphasizes that this process isn’t instantaneous or even permanent (the elephant suffers subsequent damage, requiring additional fixes), but the message of hope and persistence comes through strongly, yet with a light touch.”

–Publisher’s Weekly