My Friends - (Taro Gomi) by Taro Gomi

About the Book

Translation of: Minna ga oshiete kuremashita.

Book Synopsis

Vibrant illustrations and a simple, rhythmic text are perfectly blended in this spirited homage to friendship as a little girl recounts all the things she has learned from an enchanting menagerie of animal friends: "I learned to run from my friend the horse. I learned to sing from my friends the birds. I learned to read from my friends the books. And I learned to love from a friend like you."
The bold graphic design and brightly colored illustrations that have become the trademark of Taro Gomi's work will appeal to both children and adults.

Review Quotes

. . . the prevailing mood is one of continuous celebration. Publisher's Weekly

An elementary story that will reach toddlers and older preschoolers alike. Booklist

--PARENTS' CHOICEStarred Review
The illustrations are vibrant. The story is simple--a little girl tells what she has learned from her friend the cat, her friend the dog, her friend the horse, her friend the gorilla and other friends both common and unlikely. Children will quickly be pointing out the whimsical details in the art.

--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, June, 1990
In this ode to everyday activities and things, a free-spirited girl hops, jumps and kicks her way across the countryside, paying homage to her friends along the way. Like a satellite launched into perpetual motion, the constantly moving child praises--among others--the rooster who taught her to march, the ant who taught her to explore the earth and the teachers who taught her to study. In spare, luminous landscapes, the minute world reveals a special beauty to those still and attentive enough to behold it. The activities depicted are alternately lively and quiet, but the prevailing mood is one of continuous celebration. Gomi's (Bus Stops; Where's the Fish?) meticulous sense of design and careful use of brilliantly colored, highly delineated images imbues the story with a sense of the wonder and delight to be derived from life's simplest--but bountiful--moments. Ages 2-4.

--BOOKLIST, July 1990
A little girl recites all the pleasurable things she has learned from her friends. "I learned to jump from my friend the dog. I learned to climb from my friend the monkey. I learned to run from my friend the horse." The litany continues, including such meaningful things as reading and studying and, most importantly, loving. Gomi's simple watercolors, marked by spare, cutout shapes, are set against a clean white background. An elemental story that will reach toddlers and older preschoolers alike.

--FIVE OWLS, September/October 1990
Winner of the Graphic Prize at the 1989 Bologna Children's Book Fair, Taro Gomi has once more created a perfect blend of art and text in this simple picture book in which a little girl's animal friends demonstrate some basic actions learned in life. The little girl gives credit to a variety of living creatures for exemplifying things humans are apt to take for granted, from walking to star-gazing and from singing to smelling the flowers.

The young learner accepts easily the examples provided by her animal friends and then moves smoothly to learning from books, teachers, and human friends the more complicated tasks of reading, studying, and playing together. The straightforward text is rhythmic, and the graphic collage style is brilliantly colored. Subtle and humorous details, expressions, actions, and objects encourage careful rereading.

About the Author

Taro Gomi is a resident of Tokyo, Japan, and has illustrated more than 100 books for children.