Best pals Petal, an elephant, and Poppy, a rhino, are quite the odd couple. Worrywart Petal plays tuba; Poppy is a "BANZAI!"-shouting scuba diver. In their first outing, Petal's tuba-playing rescues Poppy. In Penguin, Poppy handles Petal's germaphobia (among other issues) when a visitor arrives. At times, Poppy's voice sounds too grown-up, but the comic bookstyle illustrations offer a fresh approach to easy readers.

PreS-Gr 1 Petal thinks there is a monster in her garden and seeks the help of her friend Poppy in scaring away the monster. Poppy discovers the monster is a cute little penguin hiding in the garden and invites him inside to get out of the rain. Petal does not like the penguin in their home; he is dirty, and she worries he will eat all their food. With Poppy's encouragement, Penguin takes a bath, cooks, cleans up the dishes, and entertains the friends with an evening of musical "honking" accompaniment. By the end of the night, Penguin is tired and offered a rest on their couch and an invitation to stay with them. Bright colors enhance the digital and whimsical illustrations. The use of panels and text bubbles works well for visual cues and decoding skills of new readers. Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI