The Friendship Blanket
Written by Leonarda Carranza
Illustrated by Erika Rodriguez Medina
Published by Scholastic Canada
BOOK SYNOPSIS
Aurelia has left home, and her beloved grandmother — Abuelita — to move to a new country with her mother. At first she’s excited about the neighbourhood with the big trees. She loves her room, which Mami says she can paint any colour she wants. And she’s looking forward to starting school and making new friends.
But school isn’t what she expected. Some of her classmates tease her for being different, and she’s left out of schoolyard games. She ends up feeling quite alone. With the help of a blanket Abuelita has given her, and the love it signifies, Aurelia returns to school with a new perspective and makes a true connection.
Inspired by the author’s own experiences, this story is a touching and age-appropriate depiction of what it’s like to experience racism and exclusion, and what it means to find friendship.
LEONARDA CARRANZA
Leonarda Carranza loves writing picture books and listening to ghost stories. She wrote her first story when she was 12. According to her English teacher, it was so creepy that it terrified him. Leonarda was born in El Salvador and now lives with her family in Treaty 19, Brampton, Ont. Her debut picture book, Abuelita and Me won an International Latino Book Award, was a Kirkus Best Book of the year and was nominated for a Bruce Spruce. Her picture book Fighting Words was short-listed for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and a Chocolate Lily Book Award. The Friendship Blanket is her third picture book.
Leonarda is currently working on a spooky middle-grade novel.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: www.leonardacarranza.com
Instagram: @carranzaleonarda
Email: LEONARDAWRITES@gmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abuelita and Me (Annick, 2022)
Fighting Words (Annick, 2024)
The Friendship Blanket (Scholastic Canada, 2025)
ERIKA RODRIGUEZ MEDINA
ERIKA RODRIGUEZ MEDINA is a book illustrator and publicist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her favourite things to illustrate are expressive characters, grumpy children and nature. She is particularly interested in mythology and folklore from her home country of Mexico. Her previous work includes Fighting Words — also by Leonarda Carranza — Margot and the Moon Landing, There Goes Patti McGee! and 48 Grasshopper Estates.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: https://erikaim.com/illustration, https://www.behance.net/erikadecanella
Instagram: @erikadecanella
Email: erikamedin@hotmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Margot and the Moon Landing (2020, Annick Press)
48 Grasshopper Estates (2021, Annick Press)
There Goes Patti McGee (2021, Farrar, Strauss, Giroux)
And J. J. Slept (2022, KidsCan Press)
I Love My Body Because (2022, Simon and Schuster)
The Tunnel (2022, Owl Kids)
Fighting Words (2024, Annick Press)
Adela’s Mariachi Band (2024, Charlesbridge)
The Friendship Blanket (2025, Scholastic Canada Ltd)
Miya Wears Orange (2025, Highwater Press)
Mi Cielo, My Sky (2025, Little Simon)
Picadillo for Paulina (2026, Norton Books for Young Readers)
