How to Make Friends: A Bear's Guide

Bear loves writing, drawing and collecting stickers. But with only the company of her toys, Bear is a bit lonely and would like to make some friends. She sets off with a plan to win the friendship of besties Lamb and Koala. Unfortunately, nothing in the plan works, and eventually Bear gives up and resigns herself to drawing alone in the park. But when Lamb and Koala see Bear, they join in for a drawing party. As it turns out, there are lots of things they can do together-they just weren’t the things Bear had assumed. Textile artist Cat Rabbit’s latest picture book acknowledges the struggle of socialising as an introvert, or when friend-making just doesn’t come naturally. This book is beautifully illustrated with photographs of the artist’s signature soft sculptures, as her previous picture books have been. The vibrant figures of Bear, Koala, Lamb and Bear’s toys are such a joy to look at and are a refreshing change from the many similarly illustrated picture books we see all year. How to Make Friends: A Bear’s Guide is a perfect book to share with kids aged four and up who are struggling to fit in or reconcile their love of quiet activities with their desire to make friends. *Ellen Cregan is a bookseller and writer from Melbourne.** She spoke to the author here. *

Cat Rabbit is a textile artist and designer working out of a fluff-filled home studio in Melbourne/Naarm. She makes plush sculptural works of imagined characters and the worlds they might live in. She has collaborated with Instagram, NGV, Lady Magazine, Frankie Magazine, Odd Pears and Bakedown Cakery and has an upcoming exhibition at Bayside Gallery in Melbourne September 2021.