We Used to Be Friends Hardcover by Marcy Campbell; Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro

Product Details

• Publisher: Candlewick (2026-10-20)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 40 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781536236064
• Item Weight: 413.91 grams
• Dimensions: 27.94 x 23.98 x 0.99 cm

"An honest and sympathetic companion for anyone learning that some painful breaks don’t need fixing—only time." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This poignant and sensitively illustrated picture book captures the maelstrom of emotions that arise when a friendship has run its course.

A young girl’s stomach dips when she passes the house where her best friend once lived. The friend hasn’t moved away, but she may as well have. The girls used to walk to school together. They liked the same things. They fought and then made up—until the next time, and the next. But the rotten feelings have piled up, and now the girls avoid each other. Dad says that happens. Friends drift apart. Remembering the fun times helps, and as new bonds bloom, the anger and hurt fade. Illustrated with gentleness and warmth, this honest, moving text evokes an authentically childlike voice to help children master with hope and confidence the complex emotions that come from a changing relationship.

About the Author

Marcy Campbell is an award-winning author of picture books and middle-grade novels, including The More You Give, illustrated by Francesca Sanna, and Something Good and Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have a Horse, both illustrated by Corinna Luyken. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two children

Aimée Sicuro is the author-illustrator of If You Find a Leaf and the illustrator of numerous acclaimed picture books, including Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon by Sandra Nickel and Dancing Through Fields of Color by Elizabeth Brown. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two young children.