Friends Fur-Ever!

It’s the start of a new school year, and the kids are excited about Oakville Elementary School’s new club for Animal Appreciation, Education, and Rehabilitation—even though their new club advisor, Mrs. Wen, doesn’t share their enthusiasm. But as the kids meet a decidedly unusual crew of animals, including a bearded dragon who won’t eat, a therapy pig named Truffles, and a prickly porcupine who needs first aid, kids and adults alike learn that when people help animals, the animals help them right back. 

When the kids decide to start a club, a kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Wen, is forced to advise the club. However, when the kids take a rabbit to visit a nursing home, Mrs. Wen’s grandmother loves the cuddly bunny that helps her remember her past. Seeing the positive effect the rabbit has on her grandmother changes Mrs. Wen’s reluctance to be the club adviser.  

To increase club membership, Mrs. Wen invites Jimmy. However, Jimmy isn’t always nice. In fact, he gets upset when the art club puts the wrong time on the posters for a nature walk and decides to retaliate. Jimmy explains, “They ruined our nature walk by messing up our posters. I figured I’d get them back by taking down their posters.”  

The Animal Appreciation, Education, and Rehabilitation activities are presented using brightly colored illustrations with super cute animals. The club members and the adults are diverse and encourage teamwork. Each page has one to eight sentences that appear in quote bubbles. While some of the sentences are complex, the majority of them are easy to understand. Because of the fun topic and simple plot structure, Friends Fur-Ever will appeal to many readers. 

The animal club’s members are mostly kind to each other, and they show compassion to the animals. For example, when deciding to take the rabbit to a nursing home, one of the boys gives the rabbit a series of tests to make sure that the rabbit won’t become frightened. In addition, the club members help find the school’s missing hamster. While most of the animal club’s adventures are safe and realistic, at one point the kids catch an injured porcupine in a backpack because they don’t want to wait for animal control. In addition, Mrs. Wen leads an unwilling horse into a parade, even though she is obviously uncomfortable with horses.  

Friends Fur-Ever encourages readers to treat animals with respect, but some of the club members forget this lesson. While the graphic novel will entertain readers, adults may want to discuss the episodes with young readers, discussing the dangers of trying to capture a wild animal. Readers who love animals and want an easy-to-read book will find Friends Fur-Ever a good book. For more pet-astic reads check out Pets on the Loose! by Victoria Jamieson and the Bird & Squirrel Series by James Burks. 

 Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• None 

Language  

• None 

Supernatural 

• None

Spiritual Content  

• None