The new friend by Kim Kane and Jon Davis

Ginger Green, Play Date Queen series. Hardie Grant Egmont, 2016. ISBN 9781760127701
(Age: 5-7) Highly recommended. Friends. Who hasn't faced the difficulty of having a new friend visit, and being unsure of what to do and talk about? In The new friend, Ginger has invited Skye over to play. She met Skye at ballet class and being the queen of play dates immediately wanted her to visit to play. But there is a problem - Skye doesn't want her dad to leave and it is rather difficult trying to play when he is around. What can Ginger do?
Another in this delightful series explores the notion of what it takes to become comfortable with a new friend. Ginger tries lots of different activities but it is not until she remembers the one thing that both she and Skye have in common that her new friend feels at ease and begins to have fun and is willing to let her dad go home.
Short chapters, large font and amusing illustrations make this a very appealing book for newly emerging readers to tackle by themselves. The joys and trials of making new friends is explored in a very enlightening way and readers are sure to realise that when they have friends over, they need to find something in common so that their friends will enjoy their play date.
Pat Pledger