Review Detail

Our Greatest Joy is about the people who become family by being there for us when we need them, sharing happy moments with them, and getting us through tough moments. This is a book that says thank you to those who have been there for us through life's ups and downs, and will continue to be there for us.

What I Liked: Our Greatest Joy does a great job of highlighting the gratitude that we feel for our friends who have been there with us through hard times and celebrated with us during good times. This book does an amazing job at showcasing the values of friendship and what healthy friendship looks like, as well as how friendship should be unconditional. This is a good book to show children that they should not be trying to change who they are to make friends, as friends will accept them as they are.

The illustrations of this book are realistic and add character to each page as we get introduced to various friend groups. These illustrations showcase the diversity within the world and how friendship surpasses superficial traits. The illustrations have soft lines, and the colors are blended in well, and there are textures added to each of the characters through their clothing, hair, and facial features.

What Left Me Wanting More: It wasn’t until I went back and re-read the description of this book that I understood what the purpose of this book was. While the book does a great job of showcasing the values of friendship and what friendship should look like for children, there were moments in which I was confused about what this book was about. Some pages were a bit harder to read as the words blended in with the background or were too small, making it hard to focus on them.

Final Verdict: Our Greatest Joy is a great book for children ages 4 and up to show them the importance of friendship, especially long-lasting friendship. As children go through their younger years, friends will come and go, and often they are looking to make friends; therefore, it is important to teach them what values to look for in their friends, such as people who will support them unconditionally, rather than have them try to fit into different groups.