In this heartwarming story about trust, acceptance, and courage, Meesha struggles to befriend other children, but she uses her considerable artistic talent to literally make her own friends from cartons and twine. She is content until her parents insist that she attend a party. Meesha tries to join in, but the noise and chaos get the better of her, and she finds a quiet space to hide with craft supplies and make her own friends. Josh finds her under the stairs and gets her to show him how to make friends, and the rest is happy history. Percival handles his protagonist with the affection of a parent who wants to protect his child while nudging her out of her shell to explore the world. He also uses color strategically to provide pops of joyful red and blue in an otherwise melancholy grayscale environment, gradually suffused with a golden glow as Meesha's loneliness subsides. There's lots here to love and linger over.

Meesha can make lots of things, but she hasn't yet learned to make friends.Meesha can make "pictures out of numbers…and pictures out of sounds" and sometimes "out of both." But making friends eludes her. She tries, but she doesn't know what to say or when to say it. Discouraged, she decides to create her own friends, using paints, scissors, and glue. Her new friends are fun and easy to be around. One day, her mom tells her they are going to a party. Meesha is worried. And at first, her fears come true. The party is "noisy, chaotic, and unpredictable," and she doesn't know how to join in. So she finds a quiet corner and begins creating friends of her own again. But this time, her created friends lead to making friends with other children. A grayscale color scheme with judicious use of reds and blues makes visual Meesha's experiences of isolation and an expanding social world. Expressive faces and energetic lines compose scenes children can absorb and make meaning of while they listen. Without labels or categories, this story puts words and pictures to feelings and traits that are difficult to articulate and explain, making this book helpful both for children who can relate to Meesha's experience and for those who don't understand such feelings. Meesha is a brown girl among a multiracial cast of children.Build empathy and self-understanding with this simple, compassionate book. (Picture book. 3-8)