Not Friends
Rebecca Bender
Pajama Press Inc, 2017
From the dust jacket, “Giraffe and Bird are not friends. Not even a little bit. The bird pesters the giraffe with his face-making, feather-pruning, and disgusting eating habits. The giraffe annoys the bird with his bad breath, ear-swatting, and lack of respect for personal space. Of course they are always fighting. Of course they would be better off without each other. After all, Giraffe and Bird are not friends…or are they?
“With bold acrylic illustrations, expressive word play, and laugh-out-loud storytelling, award-winning author-illustrator Rebecca Bender delivers an odd-couple tale that is anything but your average friendship story. Satisfyingly un-sweet an uproariously irreverent, Not Friends invites thoughtful discussion about children’s relationships with each other – though first you’ll have to wait for the giggling to stop.”
Ha-ha! This is a funny book! Bird and Giraffe are indeed every bit as funny (and not friends) as the publisher blurb states. I particularly liked it when Bird poops on Giraffe’s head – oops – I should have called *spoiler alert*! Don’t worry! I didn’t spoil the story!
Delightfully illustrated with expressive faces on Bird and Giraffe will bring out laughter in kittens of all ages in this story of two ‘frenemies’. Maybe they’ll realize they have a “not-friend” in their lives as well and learn to look at them with new eyes as well as learn to accept those habits which bug them the most.
Rating 4 out of 5 paws because it is laugh-out-loud funny!
Reviewer: Simon