A FRIEND FOR RUBY

A lonely girl finds friendship and a sense of purpose when she meets an otherworldly sea creature.

When Ruby discovers the creature, lost and washed up on the shore, she decides to let it stay in her beach hut. Ruby, who’s often teased at school, is grateful for a friend, and she ventures to the bakery to find it food. Eventually, after the creature destroys Ruby’s grandmother’s garden, Ruby realizes it can’t stay. The baker’s daughter, Sonya, helps Ruby and Granma return the creature to the ocean, where it’s reunited with its community; as the tale ends, friendship blossoms between Ruby and Sonya. While the story is somewhat predictable, the hyper-realistic illustrations, a combination of digital painting, acrylic, and oil paint, are utterly engrossing. They make incredible use of shadow and light, and the water looks real enough to touch. The sea creature is both captivating and slightly terrifying, with multiple circular rows of teeth and familiar features reimagined and recomposed: a lizardlike tail, a narwhal’s tusk, and octopus arms extending from its large head. The scene of the ocean monsters together is a sight to see; they appear almost alien and may intimidate little ones, though some will be entranced. Ruby and Granma are light-skinned, while Sonya is Black.

A familiar story distinguished by striking illustrations.