Polarhog takes his reluctant best friend on a walk while a surprise is brewing. ( )

Frog and Toad; Gerald and Piggie; Barry and Polarhog? Hmmm.... The two friends, featured in Renee French’s Barry’s Best Friend. Barry is boring and Polarhog is on a mission to liven him up. He leads Barry through the pages, offering hats (“I do NOT like hats”) and ice cream (“I do NOT like ice cream”) to distract the bird while ants prepare a surprise.

The pictures are appealing, but may be a bit confusing to readers. The characters appear multiple times on some pages, with no frames to separate the images. In spite of this, beginning readers will enjoy this sweet, goofy story of two very different friends. ( )

A quirky friendship story that never quite gels. ( )