Seven-year-old Warren's best friend is his stuffed dragon, who talks, demands food, and reassures absent-minded Warren about his fears and anxieties. When Warren's family moves, he and his twin sister compete at making friends (100). At their new school, Warren is chosen to care for the class pet hamster, Chewy (Weekend). Fast-paced dialogue and cartoon-style grayscale illustrations add levity to these entertaining tales.

In this series debut, a boy learns that when it comes to friends, quality is more important than quantity.Warren Reginald Nesbitt is moving and will be starting second grade at a new school. The 7-year-old is lucky he has his pet, Dragon, a plush toy who's real only to him, to help him adjust. Then his outgoing twin sister, Ellie, dares him to make 100 friends before she does. Shy Warren accepts the challenge: "I'm going to make more new friends than you." But inside, he thinks, in his endearingly honest first-person narration, "I do not say I might not believe what I just said." Marshmallow-loving Dragon offers Warren friend-making advice: Give a compliment. "You do not smell like rotten pumpkins," Warren says to classmate Alison. Making new friends may take a while, but it will be worth it. In Book 2, Weekend with Chewy, Warren takes the class hamster home for two days. In addition to performing general pet care, Warren must write a report and keep Chewy safe from mischievous Dragon's boundless appetite. How will he find the time to build a secret snack-smuggling ramp with his friend Michael? In both the black-and-white artwork and, notably, the text, Warren, his family, and Alison are white; Michael's two-mom family is black.Adorable fun for chapter-book newbies looking for a few giggles. (Fiction. 5-9)