The latest in the series sees the friends making pizza, playing in the snow, and taking a hike.Pizza-making begins promisingly ("Mix. Roll. Pull"), but tossing the dough brings disaster: "SPLAT." The pair are determined ("Again," "pull"), but alas, the final step is always followed by "STICK," "SPLAT," and "PLOP," whether it's Penguin or Owl throwing the pie to the sky. Draped in dough, they finally have a joint light bulb moment-time for a trip to the pizza parlor to enjoy pies topped with fish and mice. In the second tale, after a snowfall, each friend wants to make a snow-self, but Penguin's creation collapses. Penguin is sad, so Owl nobly repurposes bits of the snow-owl to create a snow-penguin. Penguin thoughtfully adds owl features to one side, so they end up with a bilateral Snow-Owl-Penguin. The final tale, "Hike," is propelled by opposites: far/near, up/down, dark/light, and more. These prepositions barely hint at the drama within the illustrations: The pals fall into a cavern, plummet over a waterfall while rafting, and encounter an angry mama bear. Nevertheless, by sunset the friends are safely home, regaling each other with memories of their exciting day. Madan's exceedingly simple text-often, just a word or two per panel-tells a dynamic story, complemented by enchanting cartoon illustrations of the big-eyed, adorable duo.Another sure-to-please entry in the buddy saga. (instructions for drawing Owl and Penguin) (Graphic easy reader. 5-7)

PreS-Gr 2— Owl and Penguin are back, and this book finds them making a pizza, playing in the snow, and going on a fun hike together. This bright and cheerful graphic novel uses very few words to describe the action-packed panels, and emerging readers will delight in reading this along with their peers or grown-ups. Readers of all ages will laugh as these two best animal friends explore the world around them. Instructions for drawing Owl and Penguin are included. VERDICT Another fun and engaging graphic novel in this series. Read alone, with a friend, or with a loved one and share the hilariousness.