My Friend, the Marshmallow Man


Children - Picture Book
Kindle Edition
Reviewed on 05/05/2023
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Grant Vassos is a children's book author and sports writer from Oakville, Ontario, Canada. As a high school and university student, Grant worked six summers as a day camp counsellor, inclusion support worker, and camp program coordinator.

Fueled by his love and passion for sports, Grant has also written features and profile stories on professional and amateur Canadian athletes.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

It’s the first day of summer camp, and Aaron is nervous. He’s very shy and finds fitting in with other children difficult. He has a vivid imagination and loves his spaceship toy, which he carries with him everywhere. It doesn’t help him make friends, at least, not at first. But, when a like-minded boy approaches with his own special space toy, an astronaut action figure he calls the Marshmallow Man, the two instantly bond and their imaginations combine and take flight. They save the planet from alien invaders. Discover more in My Friend, the Marshmallow Man by Grant Vassos.

Grant Vassos’s picture book story, My Friend, the Marshmallow Man, is full of fun and imaginative adventure. Told in rhyming verse, the plot follows Aaron’s struggles to fit in as he tries to connect with other children at summer camp. Imagination truly does trump all other activities at camp and it’s a great magnet to attract those who aspire to have a great time. Friendships are complex, and it doesn’t help when children and adults can’t accept others for their differences. However, when differences are overlooked, the most important lesson these camp children learn is that they can all have a lot of fun together. The best message is that we must accept others for their differences and not change ourselves just because we’re different. Everyone’s different; remember: “Never change who you are/ Because of what other people think./ That piece, the part, and whatever awaits/ Is the very thing that makes YOU so great!”