When Mrs Vandenberg tells her class that they are to have a poetry project and that they need to find a friend to work with, it is Charles and Irene who end up together. The only problem is that they are not friends, and as Charles is black and Irene is white, they aren’t sure they want to be, particularly quiet Irene who would rather be with her best chum. However, as Charles loves to write and has great ideas, they begin their project. The result is this book of terrific, sometimes happy, sometimes sad poems, full of the detail of getting to know each others lives, families and customs, and in the end becoming the best of friends. In the process their white classmates see their growing friendship and learn to enjoy Charles too. This is a special book with wonderfully accessible illustrations that add so much to the whole, and it should be in every school. As it is American in origin, some explanation may be needed as to terminology, but this can be easily found on the Internet. Because the school has both black and white children, Irene sometimes feels herself an outcast with the black girls, and so the racism can go both ways an unusual idea in a children’s book. Super!