My Best Friend by Andy Tobin (aged eight)

My best friend at school is called Peter. He's not in my class because he's old, but he's there a lot and he's always nice to everybody. When I'm sad and I miss my Mom and Dad and cats Peter comes and gets me and we play cars. There are cats at the school too and sometimes we find one of them to stroke and even though it's not Smoky the cat it's fun and it makes me feel lots better.

Peter is friends with lots of people but because he's really fast he can do fun stuff with everyone and not leave anyone out. He's better than other grown ups because he doesn't get tired and when you jump on him he doesn't complain or say ow you hurt me. He doesn't tell people off and sometimes when someone is naughty he sits them down and tells them why it's naughty but he doesn't shout or make people feel bad he just tells them why it's wrong and they shouldn't do it. I think Peter is quite naughty too but nobody tells him off either because he has a nice smile and he runs away too fast.

Even though Peter is old he likes playing games and having lots of fun with me and he pushes me on the swing really high. He's really strong and sometimes if you ask him nicely he will take you for a ride around the school carrying you tight and the world goes blurry and when he puts you down it's like you have been on a rollercoaster but more fun than that.

My favourite thing about Peter is that he likes to cuddle people and holds my hand like my Dad does and sometimes I go into rock when he's cuddling me but he doesn't tell me off even when it hurts him a little bit because he knows I didn't mean it. It happens less with him because he makes me feel safe and happy and I go into rock when I'm scared so it's okay. He's really good at Frogger and lots of other games but sometimes he lets me win because he's really kind and he knows people like to win at things.

When I grow up I want to be like Peter and be friends with everybody and be fun and nice and make people feel better. I don't think I can be fast because Auntie Ro says we can't change our gift but I can be like him in other ways. I think Peter is the nicest person I ever met and I am really happy that he's my friend and that he comes to see us lots.

Very good work Andy, well done. B+