Patch and Ruby is written by Anouska Jones and illustrated by Gwynneth Jones. Patch is a lonely pony. Even though he has many friends he still feels like he doesn’t belong. He spends his day hanging out with various friends but feels like he doesn’t fit in.
Patch starts his mornings having breakfast with the chickens. Around lunch time he helps the ladybugs in the garden. And Patch has dinner with the mice. Patch even has a human friend, Sam. But Sam has to go to school so Patch doesn’t get to spend much time with her. Even though Patch is surrounded by friends he doesn’t have anyone that looks like him so he feels he doesn’t fit in.
One day, Sam noticed that Patch looked lonely and she came up with a plan. Sam and her parents decided to get a second pony! When Ruby arrived Patch was so happy. He finally had someone that looked like him and could do pony things. Now Patch’s days looked a little different.
Patch and Ruby would have breakfast with the chickens before they took a little morning nap in the sun. Patch and Ruby would help weed the vegetable garden at lunchtime. Patch and Ruby enjoyed dinnertime together. And whenever they could, they would spend time with Sam.
Patch was much happier. He finally had a friend that looked like him and could do pony things with him.
I thought Patch and Ruby was a touching book. It’s also a good book to ready to little ones to start a conversation about feelings. I think it can help kids understand that even though we may have a lot of friends it’s ok to lonely. And it’s also a good way to talk about our differences and show our children that even though we are not the same we can still be friends.
Patch and Ruby is available at your local bookstore or online.
Tamra Phelps says
This does sound like a sweet book for little ones, with a nice message about friends & feelings about belonging.