Odd Couple: Ribbit Rabbit by Candace Regan

Frog and Bunny are what you might call inseparable friends. In fact, you might as well call them Ribbit Rabbit.

THEY GO SWIMMING TOGETHER.

DIP IT, DAB IT.

THEY FIGHT MONSTERS TOGETHER.

ZIP IT! ZAP IT!

But like all good friends, they sometimes get out of sorts with each other. Bunny wants to play with Frog's robot but Frog nixes the switch, so Bunny grabs the all-important key which makes the toy run.

NIP IT. NAB IT.

It's a standoff. Things are at an impasse between the best friends, each clutching their prize defiantly.

Except... a key is no good without a robot to wind up. A robot is no good if it won't move. Now no one can have fun!

It's time to negotiate a truce and pool their assets!

RIB-BOT. RAB-BOT!

In Candace Ryan's brand-new Ribbit Rabbit (Walker, 2011), it's finally one for all and all for one in this classic tale of friendship, told cleverly in Ryan's sophisticated but simple rhyming wordplay, and artist Mike Lowery's just-right wry illustrations. Done up in a subdued but appealing palette, with each of the protagonists given their signature color, Lowery's stylized characters' body language and droll facial expressions tell the story in parallel with the fun-to-hear text. There are lots of possibilities for using this one with the youngest of possible friends, despite their occasional differences.