Four best friends learn to use their differences to complement each other without any judgments and worked together to sewing a beautiful friendship by creating an awesome pink sleepover.
Meeka, Sokron, Jonsy, and Nina were the best of friends and super excited about the start of summer! Their adventure began as they were getting ready for a ‘pink sleepover’ and ran into a girl named Kiki as they were walking through the park. The girls thought she was the meanest girl on the planet. After Kiki made a snide comment that the four girls were not invited to an exciting fashion show, they made a mad-dash to Sokron’s house. There they would figure out, with the help of Sokron’s grandma, how also to participate in this event. When the invitation for the fashion show got stolen by Sokron’s dog, Dogon, the girls chased after him and bumped into Kiki again. With hesitation and some uncertainty, the girls summoned the courage to invite Kiki to join their fashion show team. Back at Sokron’shouse, the five girls finished their final preparations and rushed to the show in grandma’s long‐as‐a-boat motor bike. After the show, the girls felt a strong bond of friendship. Kiki then understood that taking a step towards friendship was better than being alone. All the girls learned that by having the courage to include others you can ‘sew a friendship’.
Excerpt
The beautiful, twinkling, shining stars pulled away all wishes that were made that night by everyone, everyone, everyone. A mysterious moon twirled to other places, letting the sun have a chance to shine. The sun finished its duties on......
“Hey, look at this! Meeka Veniya is all ready for school!” the wind whispered as it traveled through the neighborhood.
Professional Reviews
Best-children-books,Steve Barancik
Book by a kid! Chapter book written and illustrated by a 10 year old
I'm stunned by all the things Natalie Tinti does right as a writer.
That may sound like an odd thing to say. Isn't a professional author supposed to write, well, professionally?
Yes. But Natalie Tinti authored and illustrated Sewing a Friendship at age TEN.
This young woman has voice and vision. From the opening chapter, "Journey of the Wind":
The beautiful, twinkling shining stars pulled away all wishes that were made that night by everyone, everyone, everyone. A mysterious moon twirled to other places, letting the sun have a chance to shine.... The flowers opened up and bloomed, the birds woke up and chirped a morning song, and the wind twirled wonderful music around in colorful circles.
This young woman is a poet, seeing color and detail and meaning in everything around her. She even treats us to a wind with a mind of its own who spins his way throughout her story.
Natalie Tinti knows that characters should be distinct. She treats us to four unique 7 year olds, a nine year old, a Babushka, and a dog. They have names like
* Sokron Blossom
* Nina Key
* Kiki Shaver
* Meeka Venya
* Jonsy Jinsy, and
* Dogon (the dog)
And because Tinti is an artist as well, each character has her own unique look. Natalie works with colored pencils and thin markers (with a little color boost from her big brother's Photoshop).
The story of Sewing a Friendship is simple and well-structured. As school lets out for summer, the 7 year olds yearn to spend time together before planned activities pull them apart. They plan a "pink sleepover."
(Have I mentioned that this is a book for girls?)
As they prepare, though, they hear of a fashion show. How do they hear? I'll let Natalie tell it:
As far as they knew, Kiki Shaver was the meanest girl on the planet.
"Why are you so dressed up?" Sokron asked Kiki as she stared at the puffy purple dress, fish-net leg tights, high black boots, and gold necklaces.
"Because there will be a fashion show at the Shimmering Florida Hotel tomorrow. But of course you're probably not invited."
What'd I tell you? Natalie Tinti establishes tension and conflict like a pro. And who but a ten year old could think to name a locale The Shimmering Florida Hotel?
Trust me when I tell you that author/illustrator Tinti brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. The girls manage to participate in the fashion show and establish a friendship with Kiki.
And each girl brings her own special talent into play. This is a book that empowers.
Of course, the very fact of a 10 year old writing and illustrating a book is empowering, and that's another reason I recommend this book: for inspiration. Kudos to Natalie's family for recognizing that she'd done something extraordinarily special.
In Sewing a Friendship, Natalie Tinti finds the poetry and beauty in small moments while proving that kids can do remarkable things when they set their minds to it. (And make sure YOUR kid knows that even if writing and illustrating aren't her talents, she has some other ones that you've noticed.)
Girl power!
Readers Favorite, Contest Judge
Several girls work together, encouraging each other and forming a bond of friendship. Sewing A Friendship is filled with wonder illustrations. The author, illustrator is ten years old. Her caliber of work is that of a much older person. I can hardly wait to see what she will accomplish as her talent continues to develop.
The illustrations alone make this book remarkable. The colors are vibrant. Natalie begins her book with a page dedicated to each character. She describes the characters personality and interests. I love this book.
School Principal,Jennifer Carpenter
"Her book is not only beautifully written and illustrated, but
gives the reader a glimpse of the heart of this young author,"
This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books held at UCLA. This particular event is awesome as an author to see the number of people all excited about books. It helps give me faith in the path I am pursuing in continuing to write and produce stories for readers. I love having the chance to talk with my target readers and find out some of their interests. One of the additional joys of participating in book festivals is the opportunity to meet other authors face to face and talk with them. I was delighted to meet Natalie Tinti in person at the festival. Ms. Tinti is a poised, professional, 10-year old, who has written and illustrated a book about friendship. She not only had books, but also had colorful illustrated posters from her book to help promote her product.
Sewing a Friendship starts with a picture of each of the characters in the book and character profile of each, answering the questions of birth date, age, family, eye color, hair color, favorite food, favorite color, and specialty. For the target age group Natalie is writing for, I found this to be a nice way to start the story. The reader then knows who the characters are that they will meet and have a visual they can refer to if they need to during the course of reading the book. As a young reader, I always loved character profiles, just a little snippet about the character outside of the actual text. Then I would compare throughout my reading experience to see if the author kept true to the profile, or whether I could spot any discrepancies.
The story starts with the wind blowing through town and checking on each of the main characters at each house along the way. Ms. Tinti has very unique character names. Along with the wind, you meet the four friends, Sokron Blossom, Nina Key, Meeka Venya, Jonsy Jipsy, and the outcast Kiki Shaver. In addition to the friends and Kiki, there is Sokron's grandma, Babushka and her dog, Dogon.
The four friends get together to have a beginning of summer sleep over. Then they find out about a fashion show and are excited to participate. However, Kiki Shaver threatens to stop their participation. The girls find because of the rules, they need Kiki and Kiki needs them and through working together they are able to become friends by seeing the value in each other. My favorite character is Dogon, as he snoops on the girls and helps to ensure the friendship is knit together.
The illustrations are delightful and highly colorful, and each chapter has a different border, which makes it a happy read. I look for a bright future for this young author and illustrator.
Winner of two 2020 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in the Ebooks Category:
Best Illustrations: 2nd Place
Picture Books Ages 6 and Older: Honorable Mention
Can a bee-eating German Shepherd stop his bad habits to earn his heavenly rewards? Find out
