I Miss Franklin P. Shuckles

Deborah Dowson is a children’s librarian who has recently relocated to
North Wales, Pennsylvania.

During the summer, Franklin P. Shuckles moves in next door to Molly
Pepper. When Franklin asks Molly to play with him every day, she agrees
because there is no one else around and Franklin also has great stories
to tell. When school begins and the other kids start teasing Franklin,
Molly decides she cannot be friends with him anymore or she will be
laughed at too. Soon realizing how much her rejection has hurt her
friend, and how much she misses him, Molly tries to win Franklin back.
She finally succeeds and they agree to be friends forever.

This is a sweet, intelligent, and honest expression of the dynamics of
friendship as seen through a child’s eyes. The clever repetition of
the phrase “So I did. So he did. So I did. So he didn’t”
culminates in the final phrase “So we did,” giving textual cohesion
to the plot of friendship found, lost, and found again. The watercolor
illustrations are perfectly suited to the tone of the story. They evoke
the innocence of childhood and subtlety but surely express the tender
emotions of friendship. This is a wonderful picture book that portrays,
without moralizing, the dilemma of peer pressure and the dynamics of
young friendship. Highly recommended.