Mary Hynes-Berry (Children's Literature)
Even the closest of friendships can be challenging, as Debbie finds out when she gives her very best friend Tina a cardboard piano. Debbie knows that Tina is fascinated by how Debbie is learning to make music on her real piano and is sure that the cardboard imitation will help her friend share the wonder. Not surprisingly, Tina finds that notes in her head are not a match for actually hearing them, and Debbie’s gift is not very much fun. Debbie moves from being hurt to experiencing that a cardboard piano is hardly a match for the real thing. She also recognizes that she and Tina share many wonderful real experiences, including making cookies with iced topping. Perkins’s text and illustrations work very well together; at times the narrative is reflected in the third person narrative; other times, the story is carried forward though use of speech balloons. Once again, this story reflects what a talent Lynn Perkins has for helping young children, tweens, and teens recognize what it means to be a friend. 2008, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, $17.99. Ages 6 to 9.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices 2009)
Debbie is learning to play the piano. Her best friend Tina wishes she could learn, but her family doesn’t have a piano or keyboard. After Debbie’s teacher tells her about a famous composer who practiced on a pretend piano, Debbie makes a cardboard piano for Tina. Debbie is meticulous, and when she’s finally done the keyboard looks just like the one on a real piano. She can’t wait for Tina to use it. But the keyboard holds no magic for Tina, and a few days later she gives it back. Lynne Rae Perkins’s thoughtful picture book avoids high drama and instead offers marvelous insight as Debbie works through her hurt feelings and doubt by assessing what she knows about Tina, their friendship, and the things they like to do. Trying out the cardboard piano herself, she realizes that the best part—the music—isn’t there. Perkins story, which feature a biracial friendship, is told through the narrative as well as dialogue bubbles that are part of the marvelous, wonderfully detailed illustrations. CCBC Category: Picture Books for School-Age Children. 2008, Greenwillow / HarperCollins, 32 pages, $17.99. Ages 5-8.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 18))
Debbie, of 2005's Newbery-winning Criss Cross, reappears in a book for younger readers that quietly underscores the truth that friends can still be friends even if they have different enthusiasms and interests. Debbie's desire to share her piano lessons with best friend Tina inspires her to create a cardboard keyboard for her friend. When Tina returns the unused keyboard, Debbie, disappointed and hurt, realizes that the ersatz piano was no fun, but there are still many things they both like, such as making cookies and dancing. The children's dialogue is pitch-perfect, and the impressionistic paintings in bright watercolor, pen and ink are chockablock with witty details such as "cookies" made from stones, iced with mud and spread with a stick "utensil." Few authors understand the anatomy of childhood and the inherent small dramas of friendship with more emotional intelligence than Perkins. Her modest, good-humored explorations of juvenilia stand out for their acute but understated honesty. (DVD) 2008, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 32p, $17.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 4 to 7. Starred Review. © 2008 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tara Howell (Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2009)
This is a fun story about two best friends named Debbie and Tina. They liked to be together and play dress up and have a good time. Debbie loved to play piano and Tina wanted to learn to play too. So, Debbie had a great idea to make Tina a piano out of cardboard so she could practice also. Tina thought it was fun at first, but she would rather skate. Debbie was upset that Tina didn't want to learn to play piano with her. She couldn't understand why Tina didn't like the cardboard piano. In an attempt to try to understand why Tina didn't like the piano, she tried to play it herself. It didn't make music in her head. She thought playing the real piano was better. In the end, Debbie and Tina learn that they do not have to share everything to be best friends. Category: Picture Book. 2008, Greenwillow Books, $17.99. Ages 3 to 8.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 2008 (Vol. 62, No. 3))
Debbie and Tina have a rock-solid friendship, happily rolling downhill together, discussing the unfeasibility of eating ants together, and generally being besties together. They’re separated only by Debbie’s piano lessons, and Debbie’s sure she’s found a way to include Tina in those, too: she carefully constructs a cardboard keyboard, so that Tina can practice at home, and she’s sure that they’ll be playing duets together in no time. When Tina eventually hands the keyboard back, Debbie’s dismayed at the end to her duet dreams, but she soon realizes that the pair’s friendship is still as strong as ever. As usual with Perkins, it’s tone and detail that lift this into vivid immediacy, and the girls’ friendship is conveyed with warmth and particularity. Debbie’s dismay at her friend’s rejection of her lovingly crafted gift is understated but poignant, while her working through of the fact that this wasn’t actually a rejection of their relationship offers some gentle modeling for dealing with bumps on Friendship Road. Perkins’ watercolors are more intensely hued and solid here than usual, suggesting at times gouache or even acrylic, but her gift for portraiture remains in the forefront, as ivory-skinned Debbie and dark-skinned Tina sit with their pipestem pre-pubescent legs realistically sprawled, and speech bubbles capture the authentic rhythms of easy dialogue between longtime friends. While there are obvious similarities to Frazee’s A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever (BCCB 3/08), this offers rich depth in contrast to that book’s zingy comedy, and it may encourage audiences to talk about their appreciation of their own best friends Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Greenwillow, 32p.; Reviewed from galleys, $18.89 and $17.99. Ages 6-10 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2009)
Debbie and Tina have lots in common, and a lot uncommon; "mostly it evened out." Debbie is learning to play the piano, so she makes Tina a cardboard keyboard. Tina isn't compelled by the gift, dumbfounding Debbie. Perkins's text is straightforward yet emotionally complex; conversational asides in word balloons develop characterization. Intricate pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations include spot art and double-page spreads. Category: Picture Books. 2008, Greenwillow, 32pp, 17.99, 18.89. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.