BANDAGE BUDDIES

This helpful group’s healing goes beyond skin deep.

A team of colorful and patterned bandages eagerly assemble for duty at their elementary school stations: classrooms, library, and playground. They don’t confine themselves to helping with flesh wounds. When the STEAM Club needs stickers and tape, some glow-in-the-dark bandages rush to “make their project shine!” A kindergarten student has no external scrapes, but the child is contending with some “big feelings,” and a heart-shaped bandage conveys the message that it’s OK to feel sad. A waterproof bandage heads to the pool to replace a waterlogged one; a first grade fashionista needs a bunch of rainbow sparkle bandages “to complete her look”; and a second grader reluctant to release newly hatched butterflies gets—naturally—a butterfly bandage. But when “actual blood” makes a surprise appearance, the team is rattled. “We’re EMOTIONAL support bandage,” says one. Finally, Rainbow Sparkle bravely volunteers. “But she’s so cute,” points out one bandage. “And small,” another adds. Is she up to the job? Yes, she knows just what to do: wash, apply ointment, bandage! It’s all followed by lots of reassurance from classmates (who vary in skin tone) and the team. This clever conceit combines eye-catching designs and rah-rah excitement about caring for others’ needs. Cartoon-simple characters in rainbow sherbet colors are quite fetching as they each make their own enthusiastic contributions.

Fun and meaningful—and sure to stick with readers.