A Bad Day! Dragon Gets By by Dav Pilkey

ONE WARM SUNNY DAY DRAGON WOKE UP VERY GROGGY.

HE DID EVERYTHING WRONG.

FIRST, HE READ HIS EGG AND FRIED THE MORNING NEWSPAPER. HE BUTTERED HIS TEA AND SIPPED A CUP OF TOAST.

Dragon opened the closet door instead of the front door and decided it wasn't morning yet. So he went back to bed.

But when he wakes again, he decides to get up and start his chores. The floor looks dirty, but after sweeping for hours, it only seems worse. When MailMouse rings the doorbell, she points out that Dragon's house has a dirt floor, so of course, it's "dirty." So Dragon shovels the loose dirt outside. Soon he has a huge pile of dirt in the yard.

"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH ALL THIS DIRT?" DRAGON ASKS.

Dragon decides there's nothing to do with dirt but bury it. He digs a large hole and shovels the dirt from his floor into it. At last that's done. But then he turns around and sees a big pile of dirt.

"WHERE DID ALL THIS COME FROM?" DRAGON ASKS.

By now, Dragon is famished. But his cupboard is bare, so he drives up the big hill to the grocery store. Dragon is a wise shopper.

HE ONLY BOUGHT FOOD FROM THE FIVE BASIC FOOD GROUPS.

Dragon loads his cart with cheese crunchies from the dairy group, catsup from the veggie group, doughnuts from the grains group, and pork rinds from the meat group. And from the chocolate group he picks out fudge popsicles. Barely balancing all his food groups, Dragon staggers with his bags to the car. But it seems that when all the groceries are loaded, there's no room left for him in the car. What to do? The only choice is to eat all the food first.

It's one of those terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days, in Dav Pilkey's Dragon Gets By: An Acorn Book (Dragon 3) (Scholastic Books, 2020), a delightfully silly noodle tale in which Dragon ends the day watering his bed and sleeping in the flower bed. Tomorrow can only be better!

Kids love author-illustrator Dav Pilkey's flair for the absurd in this beginning reader series that will be irresistible giggle bait for preschool and primary kids who love their books on the silly side. Pilkey, winner of a Caldecott Honor Medal for his novel, The Paperboy is also the creator of his comic graphic novels, Dog Man: The Epic Collection: From the Creator of Captain Underpants (Dog Man 1-3 Boxed Set), his best-selling series, Captain Underpants: 10 Book Set, and his classic pictures books such as The Dumb Bunnies, Dogzilla, Kat Kong, and The Hallo-Wiener., guaranteed to draw gales of giggles and make the day for young readers.

Never Too Old! Mr. Putter and Tabby Make a Wish by Cynthia Rylant

It was a beautiful morning.

Mr. Putter and his good cat Tabby were eating crumpets with jam and drinking tea. Mr. Putter picked up his newspaper and noticed the date.

"Good heavens, Tabby! Today is my birthday!"

Mr. Putter starts thinking about birthdays--especially the ones he used to have when he was a boy. Back in those days he got great presents, like a scooter and a model airplane. He had great birthday parties with friends and balloons--and a cake with candles.

But now Mr. Putter was to old for scooters. Too old for cake.

(He'd need a fire hose to put out the candles!)

But the truth was, Mr. Potter wanted a birthday anyway.

He decides to call his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry and invite her and her good dog Zeke for tea. That would have to do.

Mrs. Teaberry accepts the invitation happily. But she says she has to wash the dishes first.

Mr. Putter waits. He reads some of the newspaper. Mrs. Teaberry calls and says she needs to curl her hair. Then she calls to say she has to unclog the bathtub, and then she calls to say she's searching for Zeke's favorite ball. Mr. Putter has finished his newspaper and now all he can do is fret.

Mr. Putter CAN'T WAIT!

He was getting older by the minute.

But then Mrs. Teaberry and Zeke show up with balloons tied to Zeke's tail, a present dangling his collar, and a huge cake with dozens of candles. Now all Mr. Putter needs is someone to help him blow out all those the candles, and for that Mrs. Teaberry is perfect, in Cynthia Rylant's  Mr. Putter and Tabby Make a Wish (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), illustrated delightfully by noted artist Arthur Howard. A Newbery Award author and a Caldecott Award illustrator equal one terrific I-Can-Read story, full of humor and the joy of friendship.

Be My Tidy Buddy? Kiki and Jax: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship by Marie Kondo and Salina Yoon

Kiki the red squirrel has a mania for collecting--pine cones and nuts, of course, but all kinds of other stuff that fit her fancy.

HER COLLECTIONS OF THINGS GREW UNTIL SHE RAN OUT OF PLACES TO PUT THEM.

SHE PACKED HER PINE CONES UNDER THE BED.

SHE PUSHES HER NUTS UNDER THE RUG, AND PILED HER CLOTHES IN THE TUB.

But when her friend Jax the gray owl comes over to play soccer, Kiki can't quite come up with her ball. When Jax suggests they go swimming, her swimsuit is nowhere to be found.

But when the disappointed Jax comes back with a gift the next door, Kiki's front porch looks like an obstacle course, so he just leaves the gift box as close to the door as he can get.

But Kiki finds a book inside the box that shows her how to organize her stuff. First she puts the items that are alike in separate piles. Then, one by one, she packs away only the best things, the ones that "spark" her heart, as the book from Jax told her.

It's TIDY TIME, in Marie Kondo's how-to book, Kiki and Jax: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship (Crown Books, 2019).  The Theodor Geisel Award-winning illustrator, Salina Yoon's illustrations of a nutsy squirrel who buries her stuff higgledy piggledy around the house and a wise little owl who helps her clear it away will give youngsters an engaging lesson is tidying up in Queen-of-Clean-Up author Kondo's picture book for kids who keep TOO much! Pair this one with Yoon's hit story, Penguin and Pinecone (see more books by Salina Yoon here.)

What's Not to Love? Angelina Loves by Helen Craig

Angelina loves dancing with her friends.

But dancing isn't the only thing Angelina loves....

In fact, Angelina loves doing things with her friend Alice--riding the Ferris wheel and visiting the Haunted House at the fair, watching Alice do handstands, and riding their bikes together--even if some of the country roads get a little bit too bumpy....!

CRASH!

And Angelina loves it when her best friend Alice takes the time to teach Angelina's little cousin Henry how to try out ice skates with them. And when Sammy and Spike interfere with their day, Angelina learns to love skating with the boys when they show them how to do tricks and skate backwards.

It's all better together, and Angelina loves her family best of all--all of them--Henry, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and even though she's sometimes a little jealous of her little sister, Angelina loves Polly, too. In Helen Craig's appropriately pink little Valentine's card to her Angelina fans, Angelina Loves (Angelina Ballerina) (Simon Spotlight, 2019), Craig's charming new Angelina story adds another entry to the Angelina series (read reviews here), sweetly illustrated in holiday colors by artist Katharine Holobird, perfect for a Valentine's a Day gifting.

TOP THIS! Crock and Turtle: The Bestest Friends Ever! by Mike Wohnoutka

Croc and Turtle are best friends. But that doesn't mean that Croc is above showing off his prowess around little Turtle.

"HEY, TURTLE. DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME LIFT THIS HEAVY ROCK?

"UMM... SURE, CROC.

The rock is heavier than it looks. But with a grunt, Croc manages to get it a little way off the ground.

"PRETTY GOOD, CROC!" ADMITS TURTLE.

"I'M CROC, AND I'M THE STRONGEST!" CROCK BRAGS.

Elephant strolls up and asks what they're up to, and of course he hoists the rock and even tosses it high into the air. But Croc doesn't want to lose face in front of his friend Turtle, so he asks Turtle if he'd like to see him leap over the rock.

"WHOA!" SAYS TURTLE.

Turtle is duly impressed until Rabbit comes by and asks for a try. He hops high over the rock and declares it easy-peasy. Croc tries to redeem his reputation by running fast, but little Cheetah breezes right by him.

"I'M NOT THE BEST AT ANYTHING," CROC SNIFFS.

But Turtle has the best comeback ever.

"CROC, YOU ARE THE BEST FRIEND!"

It's a big world out there and there's always someone who is better at something, except for being your best friend's best friend, in Mike Wohnoutka's just published Croc And Turtle! The Bestest Friends Ever! (Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2020). In a sweet story of Best Friends Forever, Wohnoutka's perky, googly-eyed characters, done in black line and light gouache, take a light-hearted look at competition which proves again that there are different strokes for different folks. It's all relative, but best friends just can't be beat, in the latest sequel to author-illustrator Mike Whonoutka's earlier Croc 'n' Turtle tale, Croc And Turtle: Snow Fun!

Fly High! Rosie and Rasmus by Serena Geddes

Rosie lives in a little village with cobblestone streets, a fountain, and an ice cream stand.

Every day Rosie watches as the others play.

She wishes someone would see her.

But one day, as a lonely Rosie is sitting under a tree gazing out to sea, someone in the tree reaches down and hands her a rose.

It is Rasmus, a lonely but not little dragon who wishes he had wings so he could fly.

Rose understands wishing, so she tries to help Rasmus fly. She tries tying him to a big kite. She tries bunches of balloons to float over the sea. She reads him books about soaring dragons. She brings him goggles to inspire his confidence. Rasmus can't seem to get off the ground, but he and Rosie become fast friends.

And then, one day, Rasmus' little wings unfurl and... Rasmus can fly! He can fly to the land of the dragons! But, that means...

...Rosie and Rasmus must say goodbye.

Rosie is alone again. Will she remember how Rasmus befriended her? There are plenty of flowers blooming all around, in Serene Geddes' Rosie and Rasmus (Aladdin Books, 2019), and Rosie finds a way to make another friend. Who doesn't love a gift of a flower and an invitation to share an ice cream cone? In author Geddes' gentle and sweet story of finding friends, the author shows the value of making that first move toward friendship, and artist Geddes' charming seaside illustrations in soft pastel palette show the good things that can come of a small act of kindness.

Passing the Baton! Harold and Hog Pretend for Real by Dan Santat and Mo Willems

"LOOK!"

"WHAT AT?"

"I FOUND A BOOK ABOUT ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE!"

"THOSE ARE TWO OF OUR FAVORITES!"

"LET'S READ IT TOGETHER!

Harold and Hog are great admirers of Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books and they think they have found one! And inside the book, there are their role models--Gerald the Elephant and Piggie, inviting them inside.

Gerald gives Harold some glasses, just like his, and Piggie gives Hog a cuter, pinker, piggier nose, and the two amateurs are ready to do impersonations of their heroes.

BOOP! BOOP!

"LOOK!" SAYS HAROLD."I AM GERALD!"

"SEE, HAROLD!" SAYS HOG. "I AM PIGGIE!"

But subbing for Elephant and Piggie does NOT come easy. It takes more than a bit of costuming to get inside those iconic characters.

Hog finds Piggie's devil-may-care attitude hard to assume. Smiling and dancing... and flying? Eeek!

"THAT SOUNDS SCARY!" SAYS HOG.

Harold finds that he has far too much sang-froid to act timid like Gerald.

The two would-be impersonators look at each other. Are they failures at playing Gerald and Piggie? Then Harold has a happier thought. Maybe they do have the right stuff for their roles after all.

"THEY ARE BEST FRIENDS LIKE US!"

And here comes Pigeon!

"HI, PIGEON. WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRIVE THE BUS?" ASKS HOG.

And in the new partnership of Mo Willems and the noted author-illustrator Dan Santat, Harold and Hogi are metafictionally launched into Elephant and Piggie, THE SEQUEL, in the new Elephant and Piggie Like Reading! Harold and Hog Pretend For Real! series (Disney Hyperion, 2019). It's quite a tour-de-force for the two power author-illustrators to audition new characters to take over the franchise, especially when the personalities of Harold and Hog and Gerald and Piggie are switched, with Hog being the play-it-safe character and Harold the Elephant being the daring, flight-of-fancy leader, but with Santat's artistic skill in characterization, Hog and Harold make quite a talented pair of comic best buddies, too. Says Kirkus Reviews, "A hoot for readers who already know Elephant and Piggie... with the frame story contributed by Mo Willems, Santat creates yet another early reader that is at once playful, self-aware, and perceptive in its exploration of the differences of personalities and the complications (or simplicities) of friendship."

Getting in the Swim! Nugget and Fang Go to School by Tammi Sauer

Whenever the other fish in the sea saw Fang, they'd panic.

"Don't worry, guys!" called Nugget. "Fang's a vegetarian."

Most fish never stuck around long enough to find out for sure.

First days are hard. Everyone feels like a fish out of water on the first day of school, and for a big, toothy shark, it's certainly a different kettle of fish!

Still, little Nugget and his friends the Mini-Minnows are eager for Fang to matriculate with them at Mini-Minnows Elementary.

But this kind of school is new to Fang. His teeth are chattering.

"I think I'm seasick!"

But his buddy Nugget grabs him by a fin and pulls him inside to introduce him to their teacher, Mrs. Crab.

"She looks crabby!" whispers Fang.

And Fang's first day-jitters are not helped when he feels like a shipwreck at reading. He's a bottom feeder at math, he sinks at science, he's not smart at art, he flounders in music, and then it's time for show-and-tell! Fang feels like a failure with nothing to show off, until he looks at Nugget's big smile.

Then Fang finds he has one thing to brag about--

"I HAVE THE BEST FRIEND IN THE UNDERWATER WORLD!"

From preschool to post-grad, first days mean learning to swim with a new school, and Tammi Sauer's funny, finny undersea story of first-day jitters, Nugget and Fang Go to School (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Clarion, 2019), will help young readers take the bait, so to speak, as they prepare to put a toe into new waters. Artist Michael Slack is back to provide the cool undersea illustrations for this latest Nugget and Fang story to help young readers prepare to take the plunge into elementary education.

Friendship--A Perfect Blendship: Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE THREE COLORS: YELLOWS, REDS, AND BLUES.

Everybody had his or her own little town: REDS dwelled in Redville, BLUES lived in Bluetown, and YELLOWS hunkered down in Yellow Heights. Everyone had their own place, and all was harmony among them.

Okay, YELLOWs are the brightest, and BLUES are the coolest, but the guy with the megaphone, Big RED, just had to say it!

"REDS ARE THE BEST!"

But the BLUES keep their cool, and the YELLOWs  keep their glow, and gradually everyone chills out enough to mingle in the middle of their city. In fact, some of them got pretty close.

One Blue was drawn to a Yellow's warmth, and she fell for the Blue's calming effect.  They became inseparable and together they come up with a cute little baby, GREEN--bright and calming at the same time. But Big RED  has to voice his opinion loudly.

"COLORS SHOULDN'T MIX!"

But little Green is just too cute to resist. And even some REDs begin to appreciate new possibilities. A Red and a Yellow get together and and get a standout little ORANGE! And before they know it, there's a pretty little PURPLE on the playground.

And soon the neighborhood is a very colorful place, in Arree Chung's newest, Mixed: A Colorful Story. With little Jade, Lavender, and Amber brightening up the whole cityscape. Chung's little lesson on secondary and tertiary colors is also a parable of how "it takes all kinds to make a world." Chung's theme goes down as easy as opening a box of new crayons in a lesson on the infinite possibilities there. Says Kirkus Reviews in their starred review, "A colorful story about celebrating difference as complementary and transformative."

Mix this one with Morag Hood's clever treatise on veggie diversity, Carrot and Pea: An Unlikely Friendship (Read review here.)

Friends 4-Ever? The Party and Other Stories (Fox and Chick) by Sergio Ruzzier

Fox is happily harvesting his garden, thoughts of a hearty homemade soup ahead, when Chick appears, ready, as ever, to opine.

"Foxes are supposed to eat field mice, not carrots!"

"I don't like to eat field mice," Fox answers amiably.

Fox moves on to his onion and potato patch. Chick persists in his lecture, remarking pointedly that foxes are supposed to eat frogs and moles, not onions and potatoes, and adds grasshoppers, chipmunks, squirrels, lizards, and little birds to his list of appropriate foxy foods. Fox looks lustily at Chick with an appropriately toothy grin.

"Little birds??"

Ooops! Chick makes himself suddenly scarce, as Fox exits, chuckling slyly, page right, with his veggies in his basket.

In the title story, "The Party," Fox is reading happily inside his cozy cottage when Chick knocks loudly, asking to use his bathroom. Fox politely shows him to the proper door and is soon lost again in his book. Much later he notices that hours have passed and after inquiring politely he opens the door, finding the window open (and broken) and Chick hosting a riotous pool party in his bathtub for some invading frogs, mice, a duck or two, and a mole. Fox indignantly shows the invaders to the front door.

"I guess he didn't mean it when he said I could use his bathroom," Chick complains.

In his latest about his unlikely pair, Fox and Chick: The Party: and Other Stories (Chronicle Books, 2018), this inspired installment in his series about that odd couple of frienemies hits all the marks for beginning readers. Ruzzier brings back his unlikely duo, the patient, no-drama, straight man Fox, the foil for his thoughtless and downright goofy neighbor Chick. Ruzzier perfectly captures the trope of the patient, long-suffering friend and his persistent preschooler-ish partner, delineated so well in Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad easy readers and Bonnie Becker's A Visitor for Bear (Bear and Mouse) and sequels. Artist Ruzzier's graphic skills are evident in his minimalist drawings, in which a few deft lines impart expression flawlessly. Despite Fox's understated, stoical reserve set against Chick's loopy just-hatched cluelessness, Ruzzier's narration has an easy, wry sophistication, abetted by his comic book-styled framed illustrations which pace the story for maximum giggle quotients, great for read-alouds or for early readers alike.

Winning, Winning, Winning? You Can't Win Them All, Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

It's a lovely day in the neighborhood, down among the sheltering shoals of the sea, and Rainbow Fish is happy when his new friend Red Fin suggests that all the little fish in their school play an under-the-waves game of Hide-and-Seek.

Rainbow Fish is pleased when Red Fin asks him to be the lead-off seeker. He knows everyone's favorite hideout and gloats to himself that he can find them all with one fin tied behind him.

"I'll find you all in a fishy flash!" he boasts.

He looks in all of their usual hidey holes but cannot spot a single fin, not even Little Blue, who is new to the game.

"This has never happened before," thinks Rainbow Fish.

Then Little Blue gets his chance to be the seeker, and Rainbow Fish is certain he can reclaim his superior position and get revenge on the little novice minnow. But fate is not on his side. Alas, Rainbow Fish is the first one found!

"You didn't count to 20! It's NOT FAIR!" he fusses.

His friends try to point out that it's only a game, but Rainbow Fish swims angrily away.

Red Fin tries to soothe Little Blue and swims off to find Rainbow Fish. She locates him sulking sadly in a seaweed patch.

"You can't always win," she tells him. "Did you see the look in Little Blue's eyes? He's the one who always loses."

Rainbow Fish sees that his friend is right, in Marcus Pfister's You Can't Win Them All, Rainbow Fish (Rainbow Fish (North-South Books)) (North/South, 2018). You win some and you lose some, and  games are no fun unless everyone has a chance to win now and then.  Marcus Pfister's story avoids being overly didactic through the empathetic voice of his new character, Red Fin, and Pfister's illustrations are undeniably lovely, awash in blue-green with glowing touches of bright colors and silvery metallic highlights. This latest is a worthy entry to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of this long-running series about life under the sea.

WHATEVER! Neither by Arlie Anderson

ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WERE TWO KINDS-

THIS

AND THAT!

Bunnies were blue. They had long-ish ears, hoppity legs, and a round fluffy tail. They were THIS.

Chicks were yellow. They had wings, and long skinny legs with three toes, and no visible ears. They were THAT.

THIS and THAT were what there were. And that was that.

And then a stranger appears. He's green. He has bird-ish legs, a beak, and wings. But he has long ears and a poofy white tail.

WHAT ARE YOU?

I'M NEITHER!

The bunnies and the chicks agree that he's not one of them. Poor Neither tries to play with the bunnies, but his legs just don't hop high enough. He tries to peep and fly, but his poofy tail doesn't steer so well and his peep comes out as HONK! He's not either, or, or nor!

The bunnies and chicks strongly suggest that Neither needs to go...

SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Luckily, looking for the Land of Somewhere Else, little Neither finds a home in the LAND OF ALL, a place where kangucorns (kangaroos with unicorn horns) roam among flying lobsters, foxes with stripes, and purple cats with butterfly wings And soon the folks from the Land of This and That, unable to resolve their differences, find their way to the place for ALL, too, with room for...

THIS and THAT, SOMEWHAT and WHATNOT, EITHER, VERY, SORT OF, NEITHER and BOTH.

Vive la difference!

Arlie Anderson's little springtime story with a message, Neither (Little, Brown and Company, 2018), is a lighthearted fable that affirms that neither is not necessarily a negative, that "it takes all kinds to make a world." Her simple flat line drawings done in pastel palette make their point with gentle humor and great eye appeal for preschool and primary readers. Says School Library Journal, "This less-than-subtle tale of belonging hits all the right notes and is filled with fun fantastical creatures to boot. The last line sums it all up--"Once upon a time there were many kinds... and all were welcome!"

Disco Dog Rides Again! Groovy Joe Dance Party Countdown by Eric Litwin and Tom Lichtenheld

GROOVY JOE IS TOTALLY FUN.
HE'S A TAIL-WAGGING, SONG-SINGING PARTY OF ONE!

But alone is no fun, so Groovy Joe gets busy making disco dancin' music with tambourine and guitar. And soon someone answers the call:

KNOCK KNOCK!
"WHO'S THERE?"
"ONE!"
"ONE WHO?"
"TUBA DOG--TO DISCO WITH YOU!"

What else does a dancin', guitar-strummin' dog need? Well, what does every rock 'n' rollin' song need?

MORE COWBELL!

And there's a percussion-lovin' mouse with sticks and cowbell to drive the band. And it's not long before Club Joe's Groove is jumpin' with dancers. And the count grows from just Joe to quite a crowd. Is there room in the dive for all this jive? The count goes up as Joe keeps on singin'!

"DISCO PARTY BOW WOW!"

There's always room for one more at Joe's Disco in Eric Litwin's Groovy Joe: Dance Party Countdown (Groovy Joe 2) (Orchard Books, 2017). The initial co-creator of Pete the Cat, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Eric Litwin offers the rhymes and rhythms for another party with that dancin' dog, Groovy Joe, adding a little lesson in counting down and up and small lesson in naming musical instruments as well. Noted artist Tom Lichtenheld provides the wiggle and the jiggle in his bright and busy illustrations, in this salute to how to be a gracious host--and how to count--with a downloadable song to get everyone to join the party and sing and swing along.

Runnin' Wild! Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson

BOY: I love to explore!

BEAR: Exploring is my favorite thing to do!

BOY: There are so many neat things to see like over there! (Mother Quail and her chicks)

BEAR: So many strange things to find, like over here! (Weird worms under a log)

Two adventurers set forth on an expedition, the boy with flashlight and camera and notebook, the bear with a set of fireflies, a sturdy vine, and a flat rock for recording observations.

You'd expect these two to be comrades, even Best Friends Forever.

Except the the little boy has never met a bear, and the young bear has never encountered a boy.

Until one day they run into each other. Talk about strange sights. Suddenly they remember their parents' warnings about all the weird things in the wild!

BOY: I was scared!

BEAR: But then, I saw we were both explorers!

But the two intrepid wanderers can see that they share the passion for exploration, and combine their quest to discover more together.

Cale Atkinson's Explorers of the Wild (Hyperion Books, 2015) show two unlikely companions combining their quest and agree that together...

"No mountain is too big to conquer!"

Atkinson's sweet little parable of overcoming external differences shows that together is better than alone, and his style is to do more showing than telling in getting to the heart of his premise. Atkinson's illustrations of woods and mountains are inviting, and at the end of the day they have discovered a new world in the wilds."Beyond celebrating what nature has to offer, Atkinson leaves readers with the tantalizing and valuable idea that exploration of any kind, whether in the wilderness or not, can turn “I” to “we,” points out Publishers Weekly.

Averting Cat-astrophe! Just A Duck? by Carin Bramsen

"MY GOOD FRIEND DUCK! WHY DO YOU SLINK LIKE THAT? SAID CAT.

I AM A CAT," SAID DUCK.

"BUT YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE ME.

I WILL, WHEN I GROW UP. YOU'LL SEE!" SAID DUCK.

Cat and Duck are best friends, and Duck wants to do everything Cat can do.

But cat can do some intimidating things. Slinking is the easiest of them, as the little duckling ducks his fuzzy head low and waddles unseen through the tall grass.

Cat points out that Duck doesn't seem to have two pointy ears. He doesn't seem to have any ears!

Duck is undeterred, and the empathetic Cat rushes to reassure his friend. Maybe duck will grow some ears soon, he suggests.

To encourage his friend, he promises to show him his favorite tree.

"I'LL RACE YOU TO THE TOP!" HE SAYS. "LET'S GO!"

But climbing a tree is a no-go for webbed feet. Duck quickly finds himself on his back on the ground, looking up at Cat in the tree. It seems claws are required for climbing.

"YOUR CLAWS MIGHT NEED SOME TIME TO GROW," CAT SAYS HOPEFULLY.

The two agree that while they wait for Duck's ears and claws to grow, they will do something they can both do already. Cat suggests a game of chase, and when Cat gets too close, Duck flutters into the lake. Cat leaps after him, and ....

SPLASH!

Cat struggles in the chilly water and manages to clamber precariously up on a log, His fur is bedraggled and his eyes are wild.

Duck paddles speedily to Cat, gently pushing the log toward the shore, where Cat makes his trademark leap for the land. Duck swims up and beaches himself neatly, and Cat is agog at his friend's swimming.

"ARE YOU SOME SORT OF SUPERCAT?" HE ASKS HIS WEB-FOOTED FRIEND.

But Duck has to tell it like it is. He's just a duck who can do what ducks do, in Carin Bramsen's sweet story of unlikely friends, Just a Duck? (Random House, 2015). Sometimes opposites attract, and readers know that somehow this odd couple will be combining their talents in more adventures to come. Bramsen's illustrations are soft and textured, with big baby eyes and AWWWW-inspiring charm that is nigh irresistible. Youngsters will identify with the problem of accepting differences with their playmates. Not everybody is good at everything friends can do, but as Duck's water rescue proves, different strokes for different folks can often get the job done.

Pair this one with its predecessor, Hey, Duck! for a ducky spring duo.

"A gently funny story of the differences, similarities, and compromises that make for rewarding friendships," says Publishers Weekly.

One Is The Loneliest Number: Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry and Tom Lichtenheld

Stick is lonely.

Stone is solitary.

Stick is the only twig on the beach, blown from his tree, with only one leaf left to remind him of his fellows.

Stone is a solo igneous rock regurgitated from his volcano. All by their lonesome, they both feel like the only pebble on the beach.

A ZERO.

A ONE.

Seesaws are a downer for Stone. It's a one-sided ride. Pinecone jeers when Stone rolls off the swing at the park. But Stick comes to his rescue, and with a word orders Pinecome to beat it.

"GEE, YOU STUCK UP FOR ME!" STONE WHISPERS.

An unlikely union is forged. The new friends set out together to explore, Stone going ahead, flattening a path in the tall grass for Stick to waddle along behind him. They bask together on the sunny beach--until disaster befalls them both.

A hurricane strikes! Stone stays steady, but Stick is picked up by the wind, along with Pinecone, and blown inland, leaving Stone alone, gazing sadly at Stick's lost leaf left on the sand.

Stone sets out to search, day and night, calling for his windblown friend.

STIIIICK!!

At last, his search-and-rescue mission is successful--sort of. He come upon his friend, stuck upside down in the muddle of a monster puddle.

But Stone has one thing on his side--MASS! Smiling, he applies physics and rolls downhill, right into the pond, where his displacement generates enough force to splash Stick right out onto terra firma. Stick is full of superlatives for his weighty friend.

"YOU ROCK, STONE!"

Together Stick and Stone are not just the latest storybook odd couple. Together their one and zero make... a 10, in Beth Ferry's new Stick and Stone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015). Author Ferry not only tells her tale in a text that new readers can navigate with ease, but also with fine rhymes and a few choice puns to tickle the funnybones of youngsters lucky enough to discover this one. Not only does she show friends in need indeed, but offers a bit of comeuppance for her lightweight but eventually repentant bully, Pinecone. All ends well, thanks also to the mighty skills of Tom Lichtenheld (illustrator of the perennial best-seller, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site,) who imparts plenty of personality with two dots and a mouth line for his protagonists. It's friends to THE END of this book, or... maybe not, if youngsters refuse to let Stick and Stone get by without a sequel.

Two Hirsute Hombres: Mustache Baby Meets His Match by Bridget Heos

BABY BILLY WAS BORN WITH A MUSTACHE.

USUALLY IT WAS A GOOD-GUY MUSTACHE, BUT OCCASIONALLY IT CURLED UP AT THE ENDS INTO A--WELL, YOU KNOW.

THEN ONE DAY, BABY JAVIER CAME TO TOWN.

Yep. There's a new hairy hombre in town, the Beard Kid, and when he rides up into Billy's corral on his three-wheeled cayuse, Mustache Baby knows that means there's bound to be a facial-haired shootout on Main Street, otherwise known as El Rancho de Billy.

The two hairy hombres have a face down, glaring into each other's eyes and taking each other's mettle. Mustache Baby resolves to teach Javier that there's not room for both of them in this town, or at least not in his backyard.

BUT THIS WASN'T JAVIER'S FIRST RODEO.

Hirsute Javier's beard gets spiky as he shows Billy how he can wrestle bears and chop down trees in jig time. Billy's mustache curls aggressively as he undertakes to prove that at best Javier is no better than sidekick material. It all comes down to a showdown in the wrestling ring, Barba Nino (a.k.a. Beard Baby) vs. the local hero, Mustache Baby.

Bridget Heos' second book about her mustachio-ed toddler, Mustache Baby Meets His MatchHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015), offers a humorous run-through of all the Old West cliches as the two follicularly precocious tots work out their rivalry to become Wild West pardners. Artist Joy Ang's comic digital illustrations extend the text, providing visual storytelling for kids too young to recognize the old Western movie tropes that will give their parents a chuckle. Youngsters will crave more of these two hairy-faced hombres as Billy the (Mustached) Kid and Barba Nino resolve to ride the range together.

This one begs to be read in tandem with its popular predecessor, Mustache Baby (see my September, 2013 review here).

Literature 'R' Us: We Are in a Book by Mo Willems

"PIGGIE!"

"YES, GERALD?"

"I THINK SOMEONE IS LOOKING AT US!"

Modern readers are used to interactive media. For a couple of decades, authors, illustrators, and publishers have experimented with ways to get readers to do something with their books besides turning their pages in order. Choose-you-own-ending books, pop-ups, dyecuts, flaps, gatefolds, moving parts, and text which moves or has to be viewed upside down or read backwards has appeared; illustrators and creative directors have devised clever designs that encourage youngsters to manipulate the book as they read it, building and unbuilding the book as the story (and pages) unfold. Computer storytelling software has embraced the concept and run with it, using links to open successive screens with sound effects to go along with the action. Readers have now become accustomed to doing something with words and images.

But Mo Willems has a fresh variation on the interactive reading experience. His brand-new We Are in a Book! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion, 2010) has its characters Elephant and Piggie interacting with the reader. As the book opens, Gerald the elephant has that eerie feeling that he's being watched. Always the proactive member of the duo, Piggie advances into the foreground and, with one eye squinted shut, peers off the page and into the reader's eyes, and quickly turns to tell Gerald what she has discovered.

"A READER. A READER IS READING US!

WE ARE IN A BOOK!"

Elephant and Piggie are totally cracked up to discover that they can make their reader say anything they choose just by putting it in their speech bubbles. The two buddies experiment with "Banana" and roll on the ground with glee when they hear the reader repeat it whenever they choose. Then Piggie asks Gerald an innocent but momentous question:

"DO YOU WANT A TURN BEFORE THE BOOK ENDS?"

"ENDS?"

Gerald the elephant is horrified, stricken with existential angst. Fearfully he asks Piggie when the book will end.

Piggie obligingly kneels down and turns up the bottom right corner of page 45 to peek at the last page and reports the bad news:

"57."

But in their inimitable style, Elephant and Piggie come up with a way to keep the book from really coming to an end--one in which readers will be all too glad to interact. In his latest in the wonderful prize-winning Elephant and Piggie beginning reader series, it seems Mo Willems is incapable of coming up with a book that is not strikingly fresh and inventive and imaginative and downright funny, and in this one he manages to top himself yet again.