Lucia & Lawrence, by Joanna Francis, is a wonderful tale of friendship.

Lucia and Lawrence live next door to each other. Lucia has her head full of dreams and is full of imagination, and Lawrence has his head full of numbers and is shyer than Lucia. They couldn’t be more different. But as the story progresses, a beautiful friendship develops between them and they learn about each other’s worlds. By the end of the story, they might just learn that together, they can create something extra special.

The pastel colours used in the illustrations bring a magical feeling to the story. When Lawrence says ‘No’ to attending Lucia’s party, I love how Joanna Francis uses the white space to create a dramatic feel. You can feel the emptiness in Lucia’s heart at this point and can sense the disappointment she must be feeling.

I love Francis’ use of language in this story – ‘that warm, bubbly friendship feeling wrapped itself around them’ is one of my favourites. When reading it, I felt the words wrapping around me, creating the same warm feeling.

Joanna Francis has really captured that special moment when friendships develop in childhood. Lucia & Lawrence is the perfect picture book for children beginning to form new friendships.

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