Just Like Millie

The art, created with ink, watercolors, and soft pastels, sensitively portrays the characters’ emotions while depicting their lively neighborhood. A heartening picture book on a timeless topic: making friends.
—Booklist (starred review)

Castillo’s tale persuades without sounding prescriptive, and her signature artwork highlights both a close, transformative bond, and the way that new connections made voluntarily can ease upheaval.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Castillo’s ink, watercolor, and soft pastel illustrations show the girl’s budding courage: at first she’s always glued to Mom, but with every encounter her face and posture relax more until she finds herself smiling and even waving hello. . . filled with robust colors, cleverly helps young audiences focus in on minute but crucial changes in facial expression and body language.
—The Horn Book

Castillo’s signature thick-lined, textured art creates cozy neighborhood settings that beautifully accentuate this gentle story about the power of connection. . . With the endpapers acting as establishing shots, the illustrations—mostly double-page spreads with plenty of white space—feel almost cinematic in their slice-of-life perspectives. Careful readers might notice a few easter eggs hidden in the illustrations throughout, including some of Castillo’s other books and the black dog that eventually becomes Millie’s friend. A sweet, child-centered tribute to fur babies everywhere.
—Kirkus Reviews