SLOW DAYS, FAST FRIENDS Children's Book Review by Carol Goodrow By Erik Brooks Slow Days, Fast Friends is a familiar story to most runners. Train too hard and you'll need to slow down and take some days off. It's a tough lesson for the runner who only wants to be getting faster and running farther. Erik Brooks tells his charming story of healing and friendship through fast Howard the cheetah, and slow Quince the sloth. Quince helps Howard see the beauty of slowing down and "smelling the roses". Howard takes Quince on the ride of his life. This is an adorable story for young children. They will enjoy Erik's bright watercolor and colored pencil illustrations. But it's not a book for children alone. It's a great gift of hope and patience for the injured runner and a reminder that slow and fast runners can be friends. IN THE CLASSROOM I read "Slow Days, Fast Friends" to my second grade students. Their opinions were varied but it was unanimous that they loved this book. This book was easy for the kids to listen to. It kept their attention and their interest AND since we have been playing running games where we run "fast as a cheetah" the children related to the characters in the story. The photos show the beginning of the follow-up project. By the time the kids finished, their drawings were covered with writing; notes to the author, comments about the book and sentences like, "The cheetah is fast." Here are some of their comments along with their drawings inspired by Erik Brooks's book. It was awesome because it makes you think about when you are fast and slow. I liked the story because it's okay to be slow or fast. I liked the story because the cheetah got better (his injury healed). I liked it because Cheetah made a new friend and it is good to make new friends. I liked the story because it was a little sad. It was neat because Cheetah never looked at things until he went slow. I liked when the cheetah took the sloth on a fast run. I liked the details in the pictures. I liked the picture of the cheetah with the sloth on his back. NOTE TO THE AUTHOR Dear Mr. Brooks, What a wonderful story! I love all animals so I enjoyed you using them to tell your story of friendship. It's important to remind us that being first isn't always the most important thing. Helping someone and being a true friend is very rewarding. I hope to see and read more of your work! Sincerely, B. Vaida Erik Brooks is the author and illustrator of several books for children. He is also a runner who knows about injuries first hand. Visit his Web site at erikbrooks.com Child discusses the story with her language specialist Privacy Policy of Kids Running