I Don’t Care, the sly, slow and lasting road to friendship

Softness is not a pejorative. There are certain children’s illustrated books that wear that descriptor as a badge or cloak, enabling it to give it strength and personality. Author Julie Fogliano’s work embraces that mantra. Her books have the timeless and approachable morals that early elementary kids crave. They do so in a way that’s not preachy, this is important because that fact allows older readers, teachers and parents to relate to the book as it brings back memories. I Don’t Care is an illustrated book that starts out on somewhat of a contrary tone, but teaches an aspect that everyone can learn from.

I Don’t Care starts out with two elementary-aged kids leaning against opposite sides of a tree. They seem quite cross with one another. Their arms are crossed, their eyes are squinting and their demeanor is very apprehensive. As the pages move along the youth get farther away from the tree, let their guard down, share some snacks, and morph into the typical kids that you’ll see in any playground near where kids live.

The very subtle lesson that kids might walk away with is that of forgiveness and acceptance. This is an illustrated book that younger elementary-aged will enjoy as comfort literary food. It works as a read-along book or one that those young ages can escape with by themselves.

In either case, those pre-k and kindergarten audiences will appreciate the intelligence and patience of the book. The colors are soft and muted, with each youth in the story having a hue that shadows them throughout. At a certain point, the characters in I Don’t Care the characters stop stating things that they don’t care about, and start saying what they do care about.

What they care about far outweighs the things that they don’t, but they’re simply the same sides to a coin. It’s the ying to the yang that the two friends have with one another. Those new friends who meet each other for the first time exhibit the same characteristics. It’s the undercurrent of how kids will playfully poke at one another by possibly making fun of them. Teasing someone has such negative connotations and can be bad in some instances, but it’s how many kids bond.

In I Don’t Care it’s the gentle teasing between friends based upon how well the two youths know their likes and dislikes. They don’t care that one of them doesn’t like their boots, while the other one doesn’t care what they think about her clothes. It’s all a playful dance that happens between friends and js just the sort of illustrated book that very early elementary school students will willfully find themselves getting lost in.

On a coincidental side note, the illustrations are from Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal who are great friends in real life. While it’s unlikely that they grew up playfully teasing one another from the opposite side of a tree, it’s very likely that their artwork helps the symbiotic nature of I Don’t Care.

I Don’t Care is by Julie Fogliano with illustrations by Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal and is available on Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House Publishing.

There are affiliate links in this post.