Best Buds

K-Gr 2–Spencer, pink-skinned with brown hair, is a boy who makes friends easily; they just aren’t human. Upon moving to a new town he quickly makes friends with the free plants that are sitting on the curb outside his new home. His family is slightly bewildered that he doesn’t seem to want human friends. When his mom asks him if he would rather have a friend who can talk, Spencer, who is sharing a cool drink with a blooming plant, says, “Why? We understand each other perfectly.” And so it goes as Spencer befriends plants large and small, including an oak tree he names Kevin who seems to take pleasure in dropping acorns on Spencer’s head. When Daisy, a Black girl with a caterpillar, encounters Spencer hanging out with Kevin, friendship blossoms based on mutual respect and the clear understanding that plants and insects make great friends. Digital illustrations capture the large variety of friends and interactions Spencer enjoys with his plant, and eventual human, friends. This title speaks to the ability of young people to find comfort in nature and honors their intelligence to make their own way in the world, ignoring the conventions around them.