I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. We need picture books about divorce and needing to go between two homes, but this book made me nervous. Too often, the child is sneaking out and crossing big roads on his own. This is not a picture that I would want to paint for little kids.

My Bright Friend is a light-hearted book about a boy and a friend that he makes. The boy's parents get divorced and his father lives in the city where he does not have any friends. His father tells him that there is a man in the traffic signal who turns on the lights. The boy decides to make friends with the person in the traffic signal and starts leaving him sandwiches.

I loved the creativity in this book. The story was also simple to read. Thank you to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe I’m paranoid; but all I could think while reading this book was that any busy intersection in a big city is a very inappropriate place for a little boy to play. Further so when he sneaks out at night and takes food to his imaginary friend... A small child out at night giving food to a random stranger in a big city. Am I the only one that thinks he’s lucky he wasn’t kidnapped or abused by someone who might lurk at night?
I did have one nice thought before the end however. I hoped that the hungry man would turn out to be a homeless person down on their luck; or a stray dog that our boy could become friends with. Sadly it is neither.

The story instead allows our boy to perpetuate the silly idea that a man lives in the traffic light and controls the lights manually; so much so that we even see him! Given technology and AI today I can see why a parent might jest with a child about this. But is a toddler or older really going to believe them anymore? Is this even a story the average 2020s child can pretend to believe?
For me it’s a no. Whether in English or French this book is just illogical and not in a silly fun way; but in a concerning and potentially dangerous way. Again I might be paranoid but I sure wouldn’t want a child to toddle out of an apartment in the middle of Montreal to feed an imaginary man in the light pole (day or night!). Far too many dangers present themselves on a city street corner.
I’d much rather teach children about programming the lights, schedules and how they are linked to one another to be red or green when others aren’t. That story would be worth sharing with a child.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was pretty much a No for me. I didn't really like it.

What a sweet book about an unlikely friendship. A story of a boy struggling with his new life in two cities. Ludo's parents have separated and now Ludo has to get used to a new reality. I loved the simplicity of this story. Ludo reminds us what it means to be kind and generous. The illustrations in this book are wonderful!

This story is adorable. It is translated from french, so it is a bit long. It’s about Ludo and his new friend who lives in the traffic light. It shows that friends can come from everywhere, and that change will have its challenges, but can also brings new and exciting things.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

A very colorful book with uplifting scenes to contrast some of the true-to-life family changes. Ludo’s sadness about living in two places and the separation of his parents is gently covered with real feeling. The invention of the imaginary friend was fun. It definitely is sure to stir the imagination of other young children. I like the dream within a dream theory rather than thoughts of him sneaking out of the house at night to feed the light traffic light man. This is left opened with the mysteriously assembled message at the end. I enjoyed this read.
Age: preschoolers-early elementary
Magical realism

(My reviews and opinions belong to me alone.)

The illustrations were sweet and bright and colorful, and full of detail. The story, well, I had issues with it. I appreciated that Ludo's parents were divorced, and dealt with him living in two places, but starting the story with "Ludo's parents didn't love each other any more" seems a little abrupt. That could've been handled more gently. Ludo is sad because he doesn't have any friends in the city, where his father lives, but he entertains himself by watching the traffic out the window. He particularly likes watching the lights, and asks his father who is in charge of changing the lights? His father tells him a patient little man lives inside the light. Ludo worries about the little man, & sneaks out one night to bring him a snack. Wait, what? Ludo does know he's not supposed to do this, his father told him never to go outside alone, but the poor little man, right? This is a big nope in my mind, giving kids the idea that it's okay to sneak out of the house to meet strangers, disobeying your parents. Ludo does this every night, and makes friends with the man. Now, it's sweet he's trying to help someone, and he's made what we presume must be an imaginary friend, but still, not cool, sneaking out. Then the time comes for Ludo to go home, and he and his father walk past the light post, which his father notices is misshapen. Turns out there really is a man in there, and he gained weight eating all those snacks. I don't know, I'm sure this story meant well, and I wanted to like it more, but I just can't get past Ludo's dangerous behavior. Nice illustrations though.

Review As Ludo adjusts to his parent’s split, his loneliness in the city (when visiting his father) manifests into a giving, caring relationship with the “man in the streetlight.” Ludo takes it upon himself to care for the non-stop light changer, worried the man will become unhealthy.
Sensitive children will probably relate to the storyline of caregiving, but the artwork will appeal to ALL children. Following the streetlight model of red, yellow and green tones throughout, the clean lines in the illustrations are lovely.

Boulerice’s book is a wonderfully imaginative look at the age-old question of “who changes the traffic signals.” Ludo loves his Dad but misses his friends and activities when he visits because his father lives in the city. To pass time, Ludo watches the traffic light outside his window. When he asked his Dad how the lights changed, he was told, “A very patient little man.”

So, what else is a little boy going to do, but imagine there really is a little man inside of the traffic light. Ludo is a very kind and caring boy who soon believes that the little man must be as lonely as he is, so he sets out to make him not be lonely.

This book reminded me a little of an Andy Griffith episode where Opie made friends with the telephone repairman (I think) without knowing that’s who he was. Ludo brings the little man sandwiches at night and soon they strike up a friendship.

There are so many finer points to this story and Boulerice approaches to divorce, loneliness, kindness, and friendship in all the right ways. Some young readers may not understand how a little man can live in traffic lights because they hang from wires across the street, or stand on thin poles, but that’s what makes children’s stories so wonderful–anything is possible.

Overall rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

I received an electronic ARC from Orca Book Publishers through NetGalley.
Ludo's parents have separated and the early pages talk about this situation and the new living arrangements. The transition is a little abrupt and based on one question to his dad about traffic lights. His dad explains that a little man lives in the light and changes the signal as needed. The rest of the book is devoted to Ludo taking care of the little man and urging him to take care of himself too.
The message of self care and taking care of others after traumatic situations works for all ages.
Talk with younger readers about this being fiction - they don't sneak out in the night in real life.

Adorable, and original story about a little man that runs traffic lights and the boy who befriends him and makes him jelly toast (but not relish!) while he's at his dad. Story starts out with the boys parents getting divorced and his dad moving to an apartment in the city, though I don't feel the story focused on the divorce I like that it was mentioned and not focused on!

There's something incredibly bittersweet and adorable about the story told in <i>My Bright Friend </i>by Simon Boulerice and illustrated by Marilyn Faucher. On the one hand, there is so much to the adorable main character, Ludo, that leaves you wanting to give him a great big hug. On the other, you cannot help feeling as though that hug is partially because a small part of you wants to cry for him. You see, Ludo is dealing with the aftermath of his parents' separation and divorce, his father having moved from the country to the city. Not only is the transition difficult enough with both of his parents living in separate homes, but Ludo finds the differences of the city of completely disrupted his ability to sleep at night.

And so he soon finds himself developing a fascination with the streetlights he sees out side his window. He wonders how they work and soon enough his dad tells him a story about the little man who runs the traffic lights. As Ludo continues to watch the traffic lights, he begins to feel bad for the little man in the light post who must stay awake all night and all day to run the lights and is quickly bringing out snacks for the man in the streetlight.

Now, while I would never condone the message that suggests a child should go out at night without his or her parents, I do appreciate the overall message that this book sends about dealing with the separation and divorce of one's parents. I was really glad to see a children's book that addresses this often devastating event in a kid's life for all the children who do have to go through it.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The story starts out with some heavy details on Ludo’s situation. His parents are separated and they don’t love each other anymore. I was hoping this would be a story I could recommend for children going through divorce but it wasn’t what I was expecting and I just wasn’t able to connect with it despite the cute illustrations.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orca Books for this advanced reader copy.

The author doesn’t mince words and begins the book with a hard hitting, “Ludlow’s parents didn’t love each other anymore.” I know this is a common fact and of life for many children, but I felt the story could have opened in a more gentle way. Ludlow is a typical little boy who loves to play and have fun. He spends part of his life in the city with dad and part with mom in the familiar house In the country. Lidlow doesn’t like the noise and of the city, but tries to make the best of it by watching the busy streets. He is particularly intrigued by the traffic lights and wonders how they change colors. Dad tells his son there is a patient little man inside the traffic pole controlling the light. Innocently ludlow believes this and feeling sorry for the man who he assumes must be bored and hungry, he fixes him a plate of food and leaves it on the sidewalk by the traffic light pole. Each morning the food has disappeared but the plate remains. I assumed a dog was eating the food, but no, the little man comes out at night to take the food. From here the story gets progressive weirder.
The vivid and colorful illustrations are bit of redeeming factor against this implausible and weird tale.

The illustrations for this children's book were wonderful! I loved the imagination in this book, but some parts were troubling to me, such as the little boy's father lying to him about a man in the light pole changing the lights from red, orange and green. His father should know his son is too young to tell tales to, or too gullible, because this tale he tells leads his son to go out in the middle of the night to make sure the man in the light pole takes a break with a snack.

Huh. This is not what I expected at all. I thought this would be a story of the child finding peace in his parent's separation; instead, it's about finding an unexpected friend. The concept is fine but it didn't work for me. I didn't follow it well or understand the purpose.
Ludo shows concern for the man living inside the traffic lights and starts bringing him food. That's about it. There's attempted depth but it just misses the mark for me.
I'd probably read this picture book to my kindergarten class as a filler but not a main lesson.

The illustrations in My Bright Friend are charming. The story is head-scratching. What is the theme of this book? Will even young readers connect? Do we really want our kids to think there is a person inside the traffic lights working nonstop? Do we want to encourage kids to sneak out at night? I think the writer just missed the mark. But 3 stars for the illustrations.

I wanted to love this book. It sounds so cute! Unfortunately, it was a real disappointment.

First of all, I think it loses something in translation. Most grown men don't giggle like Ludo's dad does. Word choice may be an issue.

When I saw this was translated from the French, I assumed that it was from France. But the author and illustrator are actually from Quebec. That makes one part of the book rather troublesome. Ludo's dad tells him that a yellow light means "hurry up". I thought maybe France had weird laws where a yellow light means you blast through the intersection at top speed. But I'm pretty sure a yellow light means the same thing in Quebec as it does in the rest of Canada... so Ludo's dad is giving him a pretty irresponsible explanation.

Also, the synopsis states that Ludo convinces himself of the little traffic-man's existence with the help of his dad. That's not true. His dad is the one who plants the idea in the first place and convinces him of it. My dad used to joke about similar things with me and my sister... but he knew we were smart enough not to believe him. Ludo is completely credulous, which points to him either being not very bright... or not very old. And if he's not very old, he shouldn't be taking plates of bread and jam out to the street in the middle of the night by himself, and the book should definitely not be saying:

Ludo's dad had always told him to be careful and not go wandering the streets on his own. Ludo knew better.

Of course he knows better! He's a stupid kid who believes in little men who live inside the traffic-signal poles. Come on.

That brings me to my final complaint. There actually is a little man in the traffic signal operating the lights 24/7. I could've done without that bit of fantasy. It's also unrealistic (and dangerous) to have the little man changing the lights just for Ludo and his dad. I would've rather seen Ludo learn about how traffic lights actually work... but that would've blown apart the whole premise, which was that he made a friend in the big city. (Setting aside the appropriateness of a little boy becoming friends with an interaction-starved old man who lurks inside a pole, that part of the story is kind of weak.)

The illustrations are passably cute, and are perhaps my favourite thing about the book. Even so, they're not 100% consistent. Ludo's bedding changes a couple of times for no apparent reason (there's a patchwork quilt and plain sheets on the bed at night, and a plain quilt and sheets printed with cars during the day).

So, as I said before, this was a disappointment. The implausibility and weirdness of the actual man stuffed inside the pole are just too much for me, and there are a few iffy messages. I don't think I'd recommend this one.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I'm sure many kids have the experience of going back and forth between mom and dad's homes and I liked seeing that represented in this book - I didn't like the way the author went about this though. The first sentence of the book is "Ludo's parents didn't love each other anymore". Maybe I am being too sensitive but the opening rubbed me wrong, especially since the parents not loving each other anymore had little to nothing to do with the rest of the story. The idea of separation could've been approached without scaring kids into thinking one day their parents will just stop loving each other.

I also wasn't a fan of the part that says his dad had told him not to leave the apartment and that Ludo didn't want to break the rules but did it anyway. Again, maybe I'm sensitive but this isn't a concept I want my child thinking is okay.

I love children's books that TEACH something. I don't know what this book was trying to teach... It wasn't for me.