ALEX AND LULU

Clean lines and muted colors lend a simple charm to Siminovich’s flat cartoon illustrations—which compensates, at least in part, for her jackhammer style of lesson delivery. Alex (a dog) and Lulu (a cat) love pillow fights and playing on the swings. But because he also likes sports, climbing trees, jumping in puddles, pretending to be a sailor and other boy things, while she’s more into painting, reading and flowers, Alex begins to fret that they’re “too different to be friends.” After going off on a tangent with a disquisition on “opposites,” Lulu leadingly restores his equanimity by explaining that “ ‘sometimes it’s because we’re so different that we have the most fun when we’re—’ ‘Together!’ shouts Alex.” Most younger children aren’t likely to be so analytical about their friendships—and those who are may be more convinced by the many better articulated celebrations of differences, from Frog and Toad and Tony Johnston’s Alien and Possum on. (Picture book. 4-6)