Title: “The Friend”
Author: Sarah Stewart
Illustrator: David Small (married to the author)
Publisher and Year: Douglas and McIntyre Ltd. in 2004
Number of Pages: 41
Tags: Friendship, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, Historical-fiction, poetry, Stephanie Rudi
Genres: Historical Fiction
Analysis: “The Friend” is a story about a rich little girl, Belle, who is often left alone, and her only friend in the world is Bea, her family’s maid. The two of them often go out to play at the beach and the young girl often helps Bea with the cleaning tasks. One day, Bea saves Belle after she went to play in the water alone. We find at the end that Belle is grown up and reflecting on her time with Bea.
This book is a door into the life of the young girl and the family maid. The illustrations make it look like we are there with them, and the text is very open about the situation and the way things are. From our perception, this is a young rich white girl who is left alone to be raised by an African-American maid. The illustrations and the text show a friendship that develops between the two. Structurally, the two main characters are a grown woman and a small child who come from different backgrounds.
Ideologically, the book is telling us that we can form strong bonds with anyone, despite race, age and social class. Belle and Bea are from very different because of their age difference, race, and the fact that Belle is wealthy and Bea is not. This story also makes it clear that African-Americans during this time period played a big part in raising the children of the household. Some of Belle’s greatest memories are with Bea, and there is hardly any mention of the parents. By using the picture book codes, we see that Bea is stronger and more secure than Belle because she is often pictured larger above her and typically to the right. She appears more often than the parents, who only appear once, which means she is a more important figure in the story. The author’s note at the end alludes to the idea that the author may have drawn the story from her own personal experience growing up.