Children's Book Review: *My Best Friend Is As Sharp As a Pencil* by Hanoch Piven

My Best Friend Is As Sharp As a Pencil: And Other Funny Classroom Portraits by Hanoch Piven

Back-of-the-Book Blurb:  This picture book encourages children to be creative and make their own object portraits.  Learn how to create a funny librarian, a colorful art teacher, or your best friend by seeing how one girl does it in this simple, playful book that’s comprised of portraits made of objects. Once the girl has talked about—and drawn—the key figures in her school, she ends with the pièce de résistance—a class portrait!

She Is Too Fond of Books’ review:  The narrator in Hanoch Piven’s clever picture book is an unnamed girl whose grandma peppers her with questions about school: “What is your teacher like?  What’s your favorite part of the day?  Who is your best friend?  Who is your favorite teacher?” , etc.  The girl thinks:

This time, instead of giving her the same old boring answers, I have an idea …. I’ll show her!

Using found objects (a wrapped candy, party horn, magnetic letters, flower-shaped buttons, and a pair of glasses, she creates a portrait of Mrs. Jennings, showing that the teacher:

talks in a voice as sweet as candy

can spell anything, without making one mistake!

smells soooo lovely — as lovely as flowers

notices everything, just like a pair of glasses

We really enjoyed this book!  The kids like the clever “I Spy” personality of the portraits, wondering how each object will be used, then turning the page to see the results.  I’m the kind of parent who might sneak pureed spinach into the pasta sauce, so I appreciate the many similes and metaphors which encourage kids to stretch their imaginations when describing something.

My Best Friend Is As Sharp As a Pencil isn’t about an involved plot, character development, or a moral/lesson.  It’s all about looking at the world in a creative way, seeing the extraordinary in the objects and people around us.  Budding Botticellis (and even reluctant Rembrandts) will enjoy mimicking the technique — all you need is a clear spot on a table or floor, ‘stuff’ from around the house, and your imagination.

About the author:  Hanoch Piven is an Israeli artist whose award-winning work has appeared in major publications worldwide.  He has six previously published children’s books, including What Presidents Are Made of, which won the 2004 Parent’s Choice Award.  His Piven World website includes a gallery of portraits sent in by readers – once you start creating with found objects, it’s hard to stop (and a good excuse NOT to clean the playroom, according to my children!)