The Faithful Friend

• Title: The Faithful Friend
• Author: Robert D. San Souci
• Illustrator: Brian Pinkney
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
• Publication year: 1995
• Brief Summary: From Simon & Schuster-“Clement and Hippolyte are best friends who live together on the lush tropical island of Martinique. They set off together toward the woman Clement loves so he can propose, but her uncle—a quimboiseur, a wizard—doesn’t approve of the match. When his niece flees with the two inseparable friends, the vengeful man sends evil magic after them. Hippolyte may be able to protect the young couple—but will he lose his own life in the process?”
• Ideas for using this book in classroom or library – I think this a unique fairy tale or folkloric tale that could be read in conjunction with other regional tales or fairy tales. There are plenty of ways to incorporate this into a literature class, such as dissecting the vocabulary or making connections to other fairy tales and fairy tale archetypes, how does this book compare and contrast? I think this book could be used for older children as well. This book could also be incorporated into learning geography.
• Whatever additional notes you’d like to add about this book and why you liked or didn’t like it–The oil illustrations in this book are richly detailed and include varying shades and lines of color. I also think this book is high on my list because San Souci does not just retell this story, but includes sources (at the back of the book) and even especially how he arrived at this version of the story.