Rosie and Rasmus is a classically feeling book with modern language. Serena Geddes’s story is straight forward (a girl wishes she had a friend but is too shy to go play with the others and the other children never see her just standing off to the side). But when she wanders off and meets a dragon named Rasmus, she has a grand time playing, having adventures and learning a big lesson. The part that can help you interact with the book is one can use their imagination: is Rasmus real or an imaginary friend? At the end, Rosie learns that to have a friend you must be a friend.
Geddes’s has some great illustrations that are sugary sweet without being overwhelming or “too much”. They are feel-good and comfortable. Their colors are soft yet bright; muted and bold. There is just the right amount of details to each page and sometimes there is a little surprise or two (I had to look twice at the page where Rosie meets Rasmus to make sure I saw what I thought I saw!) This might be one of (if not the first) solo book by Geddes. It seems that they have done several illustrations for chapter books, however.
I would give this book as a new baby gift (just because nobody would think of going that direction with it); for a first birthday; for a shy child or to my child’s classroom and/or library. In fact, the next time I decide to honor the memory of a friend or family member by donating a book, I am most certainly using this one!