June and August meet one night by starlight and find they have stargazing as a common interest. The new friends plan to meet the next day, but fail to recognize each other in the daylight, even though they looked quite similar by moonlight. It isn’t until June begins to complain and August recognizes her voice that they are able to reconnect. Stunning realizations immediately follow: not only do they look completely different in the light, they are quite different animals (think elephant and snake) with different ideas of how to have fun.
At first this seems like an insurmountable obstacle, but eventually they are able to find a way to make the friendship beneficial and fun for both of them. This leads to sharing ideas and teaching one another new games, while helping each other along the way. The story comes full circle as they return to their original meeting spot and again gaze at stars from the mountaintop.
Written by Vivian Walsh and illustrated by Adam McCauley, June and August sweetly touches on a core truth of friendship: while there are parts of us that are the same, there are also areas where we differ from one another, which is shown as June cleverly points out, “Our shadows begin and end in the same way. It’s mostly in the middle that we’re different.” It is these differences that offer opportunities for learning and growth, if we allow them to.
Title: June and August
Author: Vivian Walsh
Ages: 4-8
Publisher: Abrams books For Young Readers, 2009
ISBN: 978-0810984103
June and August - By Vivian Walsh
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