PreS-Gr 2-Lubna's best friend is a shiny and smooth gray pebble. It was the first thing she found when she and her father arrived in their new country, just before they landed in the World of Tents. As she navigates this new world, Lubna knows with certainty that her daddy and Pebble will keep her safe. Pebble smiles up at Lubna and always listens when she tells stories of home, her brothers, and the war. Pebble brings Lubna comfort when everything else is uncertain. When a young boy named Amir arrives at the tent village, Pebble acts as a bridge between the two children, and they soon become close friends. Shortly after, when Lubna and her father have found a new home, Lubna must leave her new friend behind, and she realizes that Amir may need the pebble and the comfort it brings even more than she does. This tale begins and ends with stunning illustrations full of emotion. This heartrending and beautiful picture book explores the long, hard journey that displaced families endure and also reminds us of the power of friendship, especially in the face of uncertainty. VERDICT A truly important story about the refugee crisis and the power of friendship. Highly recommended.--Elizabeth Blake, Brooklyn Public Library © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Wide-eyed Lubna befriends a pebble when she and her father arrive by boat at an unspecified refugee settlement she calls a World of Tents. She personalizes the small stone by drawing a happy face on it, telling it all about her family, the war that displaced her, and the home she left behind. Lubna assures Pebble that it is still her best friend after she bonds with Amir, a young boy who arrives at the settlement. When Daddy joyously announces to Lubna that he has found them a home, the emotionally conflicted girl, after great consideration, relinquishes Pebble to Amir. Promised stability in a new town, Lubna can hand over her one source of comfort to someone who needs it more. Meddours short, simple sentences pack an emotional punch. Upon her departure: Lubna felt happy. Then sad. Amir cried. The illustrations frequent use of curved lines in a palette of cool blues and greens with touches of crimson brings a sense of security to readers; one particularly emotive picture shows Lubna asleep in Daddys salty arms, the large mans upper body forming a wide circle around his vulnerable child. In many spreads, Egnus puts the reader on the ground (or even underwater where ships loom large), as if we are right there beside the children. Bookended by close-up views of Lubnas face and then Amirs, this tender, understated story honors the emotional resilience of young people. julie Danielson March/April 2019 p 64(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Lubna navigates the challenges of being a refugee: keeping happyor rather, survivingand passing the courage on. She arrives with her dad as refugees to their temporary home, "a World of Tents," with no visible toys and perhaps nothing at all. Lubna latches onto a pebble she finds on the beach after their crowded boat arrives at the shore. After this find, she "clutched Daddy's hand and gripped her pebble. Somehow, she knew they'd keep her safe." The larger-than-life, almost dreamy illustrations show readers what Lubna sees and feels, and the rawness of both text and images penetrates the heart. Lubna and Pebble become best friends, and she and her lovingly understanding father even create a nice home for it to face the cold winter, a shoebox with a tea towel. Then she meets another friend, Amir, a little boy who is alone. "This is my best friend, Pebble," Lubna says. Amir smiles, and together they play under the stars, the illustrations taking on jewel tones that contrast their imaginary play with the drabness of the refugee camp. When Lubna hears the happy news about resettlement to a better place, she is first happy, then sad about leaving Amir behind. She makes a hard and selfless decision that night, to share her treasure with her young friend who needs to hang on. Lubna, her father, and Amir have olive skin and dark hair; their circumstances hint at Syrian origins, but no country is named.A true celebration of the endless creativity and resilience of children. (Picture book. 5-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Lubna and her father have come ashore in a new country, where they're housed in a tent city. Lubna's best friend is a pebble she picked up on the beach, "shiny and smooth and gray," made cheerier by the happy face she draws on it with a marker: "Lubna told Pebble everything. About her brothers. About home. About the war." After a small boy named Amir arrives, Lubna and Pebble befriend him. Then Lubna's father announces that they're leaving for a new home, and Amir despairs. Following a sleepless night, the girl knows what she must to do to comfort him. Spacious, soaring spreads by Egnéus (Raven Child and the Snow-Witch) add flashes of imaginative escape to the poignant story by Meddour (The Glump and the Peeble). He shows the action from Lubna's point of view, rendering interactions between her and Pebble in intimate close-ups, while Lubna's father and other adults tower protectively above them. In a particularly inventive touch, Amir's shadow appears as a pomegranate tree; when he receives Lubna's gift, it bursts into color in a magical expression of gratitude. The story addresses a difficult subject but stays focused on hope. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Some children have security blankets, some have teddy bears, others have invisible friends. Lubna has Pebble. It is telling that this child would rely on so ordinary and ubiquitous an object for comfort: she has nothing else. Before we can wonder why a little girl's best friend is a pebble, we learn that she found it when she and her father arrived in a World of Tents. Night skies make silhouettes of the hulls of boats that dwarf tiny Lubna on the beach from where she and her father make their way to their new tent home. The fact that they are refugees might be lost on the youngest readers as this significant fact is only subtly conveyed in the text. But a quiet sense of loss pervades the story and is amplified when another small child, Amir, arrives. Close-up renderings of Lubna's face, her father's strong arms, and Amir's drooped shoulders convey the weight of trauma the children carry. Yet there is also a tenderness and optimism in their playful delight and shared love of Pebble. A warm palette of indigo and ocher, with occasional blasts of glowing orange and red, mirrors the cocoon of security that the children build for each other. Lubna and Pebble is a timely story of displacement, loss, friendship, and kindness universal messages with timeless appeal.--Amina Chaudhri Copyright 2019 Booklist