Fish woke up early in search of a friend. Wave seemed sweet. At first she was just a teeny, tiny little wave, but then she rose and grew, scaring Fish. She apologized, but she also explained that waves rise, and she can't help it. This time, when she starts to rise again, she invites Fish to hold on, and they rise and crash together for the time of their lives. Ruzzier's unmissable watercolor artwork yet again features sweet-hearted creatures in warm friendship tales, as he has so deeply mastered. His use of muted sunrise pinks and seafoam greens in visible, sweeping brushstrokes are calming and delightful, and his ability to somehow anthropomorphize a wave is both admirable and as adorable as his furrow-browed fish. HarperCollins' I Can Read Comics series continues to produce great work to fill a high-demand gap for very early readers, and this Level 1 tale, produced by a comics master, manages to weave a lovely story within its tiny word count.

Fish (Fish and Sun, rev. 9/21) wakes up early to search for a new friend, and the first potential pal he finds is a wave. Wave starts as a nonthreatening little bump on the water, with a button nose and two dots for eyes. But then, as waves do, she swells, rising to several times her original size and crashing down on Fish, frightening him. Ruzzier's illustrations feature minimal ink lines and watercolor washes in groovy pastels that bleed into each other and let the texture of the paper show through, adding warmth and visual interest to this comic for the newest readers. Each spread features one panel; the illustrations do most of the work, and the rest of the story comes in speech bubbles (one or two per panel) that lean heavily on sight words and repetition. When Wave rises again, she and Fish talk about their feelings and find a way to allow friendship to blossom and flourish through the cycle of a wave's inevitable fluctuations. Unlikely duos sorting out how to have fun together are a staple of the beginning reader genre, and this story has added depth in its assertion that sometimes the best way to play is to go with the flow. Adrienne L. Pettinelli