Grab your tissues…you will need them to wipe away the tears – THE LAST DAY JULIAN WAS MY BEST FRIEND captured my heart – a perfect story about the power of forgiveness!
The text has wonderful rhythm, great sets of three, and sparse language - hallmarks of a winning picture book that keeps us...and every child reader and listener engaged from beginning to end!
And the illustrations!!! So lovely – and we feel the emotions of both characters from the expressions on their faces. A masterful addition for school libraries and home bookshelves!

"The Last Day Julian Was My Best Friend" by Jody Jensen Shaffer is a touching and heartfelt children's book that explores the true meaning of friendship and the power of forgiveness. Set against the backdrop of a carefree summer vacation, the story follows best friends Anthony and Julian as they embark on a series of adventures together.

From making pancakes to riding bikes to the beach, Anthony and Julian are inseparable, enjoying every moment of their summer vacation to the fullest. However, Anthony harbors a secret—a secret about Julian's missing marble—that threatens to disrupt their friendship. Fearing Julian's reaction, Anthony struggles with guilt and uncertainty, determined to make their last day together as best friends memorable.

Jody Jensen Shaffer's storytelling is gentle and poignant, capturing the complexity of childhood friendships with sensitivity and warmth. Through Anthony's perspective, young readers are invited to grapple with themes of honesty, loyalty, and the importance of owning up to one's mistakes. As Anthony wrestles with his conscience, readers are reminded of the value of open communication and the healing power of forgiveness.

The illustrations by Jody Jensen Shaffer complement the text beautifully, bringing the story to life with vibrant colors and expressive characters. Each illustration is filled with emotion and detail, adding depth and dimension to the narrative and engaging readers visually.

What truly sets "The Last Day Julian Was My Best Friend" apart is its heartfelt message of redemption and reconciliation. As Anthony bravely confronts his secret and shares it with Julian, the story emphasizes the transformative power of honesty and vulnerability in strengthening friendships.

Overall, "The Last Day Julian Was My Best Friend" is a heartwarming and relatable story that will resonate with readers of all ages. Through its timeless themes and engaging storytelling, this book reminds us that true friendship withstands challenges and flourishes with love, understanding, and forgiveness. Jody Jensen Shaffer has crafted a beautiful ode to friendship that will leave a lasting impression on readers long after the final page.

This attention-grabbing title features best friends Anthony and Julian, who love to spend time together riding bikes, going to the beach, having sleepovers. It is the best summer ever until Anthony has a terrible secret, something that might just ruin their friendship. Wracked with guilt and worry, Anthony is determined to create the best last day ever as Julian’s best friend. Joanne Lew-Vriethoff’s illustrations are engaging and sweet, and build reader's empathy for both characters until the truth us finally revealed. Kirkus says this book is “A touching story of true friendship and the power of forgiveness.” Will certainly help pave the way to conversations about making choices and taking responsibility both in the classroom and at home.

I found it very hard to rate children's books so everything is a 5 star read for me!!
I really loved this book, the illustrations are so beautiful and captivating that I found myself smiling through every page I read.
The story itself is very beautiful and inspiring <3

This book is a great story for children to remind them that being truthful can be hard, especially if we know it will hurt someone's feelings, but it is always better to be honest. It is also a good story to show kids that true friends still love you even when you've done something that you need to ask for forgiveness for.

Remorse. Sharing. Forgiveness. Mistaken deeds can happen to anyone, but it doesn't need to lead to the end of a friendship.
The illustrations by the Joanne Lew-Vriethoff are imaginative, colorful, and delightful.
Well suited for reading alone or WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school, hospital, or your local public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books | Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Pub Date 04 Jun 2024

What a lovely little story with a lovely message and a lovely ending.
I don't think it's a stretch to say that all kids have at some point taken something that they shouldn't have. And what do you do in that situation, when you want to give it back but don't want to have it be known that you took that thing in the first place? That's essentially what this book teaches and it does so in a very sweet way.
Also, illustrations are nice. I can recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This book gave me all the feels and it melted my cold cynical adult heart. I really enjoyed this story of friendship. This book teaches very important lessons that children need to learn in their life. I also really enjoyed the illustrations. I really enjoyed this book and I can imagine children will too!
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This is a really lovely picture book about the worries children have. The boy was worried that Julian wouldn't be his friend once he'd realised what he'd done and so he spent time worrying and trying to have fun with him for one last day. Such a sweet story and one that should definitely be on KS1 bookshelves.

Such a cute story teaching little's about forgiveness and the importance of telling the truth. I like that it doesn't go too in depth of teaching the right from wrong and why we need to forgive. I love that just by reading the story you can put two and two together. Really cute story!

This is one of those books that just makes sense. There should be a book teaching about forgiveness and the power of friendship to young ones like this one. I'll be recommending it to my nephews.

2.5/5 round up to 3 Stars! Thank you, NetGalley and Two Lions for this eARC of The Last Day Julian was My Best Friend by Jody Jensen Shaffer, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff.

This is a very cute story but I feel like something was missing in between. At first, I thought this would be about a loss/grieving but it was actually about forgiveness and friendship. It does have a cute point to it but I can't say that this got the message fully across. My son was a little confused when I had read this to him and I think it was because there should've been a little bit more explanation of why Anthony took the marble. Beautiful illustration.

This story is a wonderful tale about friendship and forgiveness. Colorful, creative and charming, it explores how important best friends are to one another, and how that even when we make mistakes, best friends will overlook them. What did disturb me was how other reviews portrayed the one who took the marble. They claim he did not apologize, which is far from accurate. I wonder if they slowed enough to even read the story? How did they miss it? I almost allowed that to keep me from taking a look at the book, but I am glad I read it. The artwork is brilliant, the story engaging, and the lesson, inspired. Highly recommended.

The idea of this book in wonderful - keeping a secret can be hard, and can also make you feel unhappy. Telling the truth can also be hard, but it is important. Friendship can recover from many things, so long as they are talked about. Amazing and important lessons! Sadly, these lessons are slightly lost within the story - I see where they were going with it, but it doesn't quite hit. The illustrations are cute.

Loved this picture book! It Reminds me of my childhood. I especially liked that it was diverse characters not many childrens books include that. I will be purchasing this book for my som to read in a few years!

“The last day Julian Was my Best Friend” is a lovely depiction of a young friendship & how scary it is when you realize you have broken the expected trust. This would be a great book to explore perspectives, feelings & the act of forgiveness with elementary children.

I was expecting this book to be sad based on the title alone but it was a beautiful story about friendship and how it's hard to tear apart true best friends, this was all paired with gorgeous illustrations and a heartwarming story, making for the perfect blend of a quick read and a good one for children as a bedtime story

I was sent this E-Arc on Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review

A lovely little book about the value of friendship, a young boy’s guilt at doing something wrong, the lie he told and the ultimate consequence of this.

Great to teach young ones about honesty and forgiveness. Would have liked to have seen the impact on Julian, and his thought processes to really demonstrate the effect of Anthony’s actions. It would have helped bring a counterpoint to the story, without which it felt a little rushed.

Beautiful illustrations and depiction of the fun times the boys have together.

#TheLastDayJulianWasMyBestFriend
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The Last Day Julian Was My Best Friend caught immediately my eye because the title is so dramatic. I like it. When you are a child, everything feels big and everything is in fact very dramatic.

I really enjoyed this book! It portrays beautifully something I would say all of us have experienced; someone else has something we really like and want. And sometimes we make wrong choices. This book teaches how to face those choices and wrongdoing we make. This book doesn't only teach an important lesson to all of us, but it's also a fun book with beautiful illustrations which I am sure many young readers would enjoy!

This is another one of those rare times where I requested a picture book from netgalley and I definitely think I'll be pushing this in my nephew's direction. It's a story about two best friends who go through a minor struggle over a marble but come out on the other end of it. It's a short and sweet and simple storyline perfect for younger kiddos. My nephew is 7 and this will be a perfect book for him.