The Bee is right in her prime chapter book years. She’s 7 and still practicing her reading, so we are still doing a lot of reading together. She is loving when we read chapter books, especially when they are illustrated. We were very excited to receive a copy of Jo Jo Makoons The Used-to-be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley and illustrated by Tara Audibert and could not wait to crack it open!

Jo Jo is an Ojibwe girl living on a fictional reservation called the Pembina Ojibwe Reservation. She’s a typical little girl with typical little girl troubles. She has two best friends, her cat Mimi and her school friend Fern. Jo Jo is learning the difference between being a best friend and being friendly with others. She is incredibly spirited and lives life at a million miles per hour which makes her so relatable to readers. She is far from perfect and makes mistakes which usually lead to humourous consequences.

We found this story to not only be hilarious but realistic and educational as well. We loved how we got to learn new Ojibwe words like Boozhoo and nindizhinikaaz. Jo Jo is brutally honest throughout the story, telling the readers all about Teacher who tries but really can’t speak her Ojibwe words. The Bee is constantly reminding me about how Jo Jo tries to rhyme during class and the misadventures with Mimi. 

The illustrations by Tara Audibert, a New Brunswick resident, are fantastic! They add more humour to this already hilarious story inviting the readers into Jo Jo’s world. Her illustrations are unique and have a real anime/comic feel to them which we really enjoyed.

The Used-To-Be-Best Friend is the first in what we hope are many more Jo Jo Makoons stories to come!