(July 4, 1890– ; eight-page weekly; PPPA ; 1993 circulation, 54,079; files at LLU , PPPA ). The Sabbath school paper for preschool children. It contains the cradle roll lesson for children ages 1–3, and the kindergarten lesson for ages 4–6. For 56 years it was the only Seventh-day Adventist publication for children up to the Youth’s Instructor age.
My Bible Story (1946–1956), a four-page paper for tiny tots, interrupted this half-century continuity. In 1953 the Junior Guide (ages 10–14) absorbed the junior readership. In 1957 Our Little Friend incorporated My Bible Story, and the age-level ceiling was lowered to include only the cradle roll and kindergarten children. The material for primary children (ages 7 to 9), began to be published in a new weekly, Primary Treasure.
Subject matter includes true-to-life character-building stories written with the positive approach from a child’s viewpoint. Simple lessons of life for Christian growth are emphasized. Honesty, truthfulness, courtesy, safety, health, and temperance are stressed. Nature articles, illustrated poetry, pictures to color, and simple puzzles are included.
The Signs Publishing Company of Warburton, Australia, publishes an Australian Our Little Friend . Foreign language versions of the paper appear in the Spanish El Amigo de los Ninos and the French Notre Petit Ami, published by the Pacific Press.
Since 1987 a monthly parenting column has been published.
Editors: W. N. Glenn, 1890–1906; Kathrina B. Wilcox, 1907–1918; Uthai V. Wilcox, 1918–1921; Maude O’Neil, 1921–1923; Ernest Lloyd, 1924–1949; Eugene Sample, 1949–1963; Louis Schutter, 1963–1985; Lawrence Maxwell, 1985–1986; Aileen Andres Sox, 1986– .