In two charming picture books, a hippo and a bird, a hedgehog and a squirrel, show what it means to be a good friend. The first, I Don’t Want to Be a Pea!, by Ann Bonwill, illustrations by Simon Rickerty, is a funny tale about a hippo named Hugo and a bird named Bella. From the very first spread, you get the sense that these two best buds butt heads often. “All hippos have birds, and Bella is mine,” says Hugo. “Correction. All birds have hippos, and Hugo is mine,” says Bella. The two friends are trying to decide what costume to wear to the Hippo-Bird Fairy-Tale Fancy Dress Party. (“You mean the Bird-Hippo Fairy-Tale Fancy Dress Party,” Bella interjects.) Hugo is under the impression that they’ve already decided. Hugo will go as the Princess, and Bella will be the Pea. That’s news to Bella, who objects to being a small green pea. She wants to go as a mermaid, and Hugo will be her rock. “I don’t want to be a rock,” says Hugo. “It is too gray and blobby.” Bella points out, “But you are gray and blobby.” Back and forth, the friends argue and separate in a huff. But not to worry: The two come up with a solution that makes for a satisfying lesson on the need to compromise. In both Rickerty’s bright illustrations and Bonwill’s humorous text, Hugo and Bella come across as appealing personalities with genuine affection for each other.
Written by Leslie Muir, pictures by Julian Hector, C.R. Mudgeon, is a gently humorous story about the pleasures of friendship and trying something new. C.R. Mudgeon is a hedgehog who lives a safe, quiet existence: Everything he does, from the bland supper that he eats to the medical reference book that he reads, is the same every night. But one day, his unexciting, routine-filled life is turned upside down when somebody new moves in to the tree next door. Paprika, a bright-eyed squirrel, is the total opposite of the curmudgeonly hedgehog: She loves bright colors, spicy food, and mariachi music. C.R. does his best to resist Paprika’s friendly overtures—even going so far as to write an angry letter asking her to move away to a “faraway tree.” But when the outgoing squirrel comes down with a case of “the whooping whiffles,” C.R.’s nurturing side kicks in. He consults his favorite medical book and cares for her. He also realizes that life without Paprika would be boring and lonely and that he’s made a new friend. (“Good friends are the spice of life,” says Paprika.) The last page shows the hedgehog letting down his guard, a maraca in each hand, joining wholeheartedly in Paprika’s weekly mariachi band practice.
Children’s literature is full of memorable friendships among animals of different species. Think Elephant and Piggie, Wilbur and Charlotte. What is your favorite odd couple?
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Sandra Lee Rella, mother of two budding bookworms, is a freelance editor and writer, and a former children’s book review editor.
