Author and illustrator Qin Leng. Photo by Lian Leng, 2025.

Just as I was finishing up my post with Sara O’Leary about her new book, A Friend is a Friend is a Friend, I had the honour of meeting her collaborator, illustrator Qin Leng at the Type Books launch of Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad’s A Door is to Open.

It was an incredibly hot evening, and the space was packed. As people did their best to mingle despite the tight quarters and the heat, I had the good luck to find myself tucked into a little nook, nibbling a cube of cheese and chatting with Qin, who was an absolute delight. I couldn’t resist asking if she’d be up for answering Just One Question about A Friend is a Friend is a Friend, the third instalment in her trilogy with Sara from Groundwood Books. Set at a summer camp, the book centres around a seemingly-simple-but-often-anxiety-inducing question: how to make a friend?

Qin surprised me with this tiny sketch of myself inside my copy of *A Friend is a Friend is a Friend.*

Today feels like the perfect day to share this post, as I dropped my oldest daughter off for her first time at sleep away camp with a couple of her best pals. Hopefully she’ll return with a load of memories and a new friend or two.

Qin Leng graduated from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and has spent almost two decades creating content for kids television. Qin has illustrated picture books, chapter books, magazines and book covers with publishers around the world. Her first graphic novel as an author-illustrator, FANTASTIC LOU, is out now from Tundra books. She lives in Toronto, with her husband and her son.

Q/ If the narrator of How to Make a Friend had asked little Qin for her friendship-making tip, what would she have said? What about grown-up Qin?

A/ As a 5, 6, 7 year old I probably wouldn’t even have an advice about how to make friends. From my experience I don’t feel that children are as self conscious, at least at an early age. They respond spontaneously to the environnement they are in and sort of go with the flow.

I remember easily making friends at playgrounds just because we happened to be in the same place at the same time and just wanted to share in the fun!

As an adult I would say maybe try to remember that natural confidence of just being yourself. Don’t second guess everything or worry about how people will perceive you. Often just a “hi” accompanied by a genuine smile ( you know the smile with your lips AND your eyes) is enough to break the ice.

In my 40s I started rock climbing at my neighbourhood gym and I have found that trick to be pretty fool proof.

I have made so many new acquaintances and even close friendships!