Besties Big and Little have diametrically opposed personalities. That Big is an elephant and Little a mouse isn't mind-blowing, but Garland flips expectations by making Big timid and Little brave, Big a nibbler and Little a gourmand, etc. Through succinct rhymes and painterly art, Garland makes the larger (and smaller) point that a real friend doesn't expect you to change.

PreS-Gr 1Big (an elephant) and Little (a mouse) are best friends who like different things. This title reads like a list of polar opposites. The lack of connection from page to page leaves the story without an arc, and readers won't have a compelling reason to believe in the bond between Big and Littleor that the friendship will work "for me and for you," as reads the last line of the book. However, Garland's familiar bright, eye-catching art ensures circulation in spite of the dull text. On the cover, Little holds an umbrella while standing atop Big's water-spraying trunka delightful image sure to entice young readers. But awkward rhymes ("Big and Little/are best of friends,/Though the things that they like/Are at opposite ends") and forced words ("Little plays loud,/Big plays mellow./Little likes blue,/Big likes yellow") prevent this selection from being a good read-aloud. VERDICT Despite the colorful artwork, this offering remains an additional purchase at best.Hillary Perelyubskiy, Los Angeles Public Library

An elephant and a mouse are best friends even though they have different tastes in just about everything. Big, an elephant, and Little, a mouse, enjoy a close friendship that includes spending lots of time together, even though they have opposite tastes. Garland's accessibly simple, rhyming text (set in a somewhat clunky typeface) spells it out in a no-nonsense back-and-forth style: "Big likes up, Little likes down. / Little likes square, Big likes round." The litany encompasses a truly vast number of points on which Big and Little differ. By the end of the story, Garland reveals that Big and Little, being so different, occasionally have fights, but they always make up because they realize that they "are who they are. No need for a change!" And this message of acceptance of differences is heartening and much needed. Garland's digitally rendered illustrations, while colorful and lively, are visually discordant. Soft blending within the mouse and the elephant figures is juxtaposed against their sharp outline edges—a visually jarring look. Impressionistic backgrounds and foregrounds, too, are interspersed with sharp-edged objects as well as photorealistic ones. The overall impression is one of too many digital effects that don't harmonize well. A book whose theme of opposite personalities being best friends is a welcome, uplifting one but whose illustrations lack visual coherence. (Picture book. 3-5)