I'm Sorry
PreSchool-K-Even the closest friendship must weather the occasional storm. Such is the case with a preschool boy and girl who share in all kinds of creative play. Theirs is a relationship made in heaven until harsh words are spoken and they shout at one another. The boy describes his anger, feigned indifference, sadness, and loneliness all resulting from the spat. He muses that if his friend were as sad as he is "She would come and say, 'I'm sorry,' and I would say sorry, too." While the youngster's desire for reconciliation is admirable, these sentiments give a mixed message about apologizing. Additionally, the cause of the disagreement is not explained in either the pictures or the text. Since many young children are very concerned with issues of fairness, this omission may be troubling, even though the point is clearly not to assign blame to either child. Lovely illustrations represent the preschoolers and their familiar surroundings with a softened realism. Renderings of the children's faces are especially effective in conveying the emotions McBratney describes. Despite some modest quibbles with the story line, this gentle vignette nicely portrays a friendship between the genders.Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CACopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.