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Ryan loves to read. Though in second grade, he reads at a sixth-grade level. He especially loves adventure books about knights and dragons and has a home collection. Unfortunately, he is also disorganized and “messy” and has trouble preparing for school each day and moving from one task to another. It’s difficult for little Ryan to keep his papers and materials for each school subject organized, and this causes him stress and affects his schoolwork. When Mom makes an appointment with his teacher, Mrs. Bellamy, she learns about something called executive function disorder, which can affect a child’s ability to organize effectively, leading to messiness and trouble with transitions. When new student Dave arrives at the school, he immediately befriends Ryan. Dave has trouble reading but excels at organization skills. So, the two new friends help each other out as their friendship blossoms, including reading and playing together.
Buenaflor has written a sweet and heartwarming story, accompanied by colorful, attractive illustrations. As is often the case, every person has their own strengths and weaknesses, and that is certainly no different for young Ryan and Dave. The importance of good character and helping our friends (young or old) shines through these pages, as Ryan’s love for reading helps Dave with his reading abilities over time. Meanwhile, Dave, knowing Ryan struggles with some executive functioning, never judges or questions but simply helps his new friend organize his school materials into neat, accessible order within his backpack because it is the right thing to do. This special tale of friendship conveys to young readers some very valuable life lessons. There are a few minor grammatical and punctuation errors, but they do little to distract from the narrative. Overall, Buenaflor has written a beautifully inspiring book for children about friendship, caring, and basic goodness.