WE DISAGREE

Up with polka dots! Down with prairie dogs! Can’t Mouse and Squirrel agree on anything?

Drums or guitars? Why bother?—humming is obviously better. Mouse (clad in blue polka-dot trousers) loves a clear blue sky, but Squirrel (in a red knit cap) is partial to dark, gray clouds. Who cares if Mouse likes bikes—Squirrel knows that hiking’s the way to go. Tensions rise with each heated exchange of opinions until, faced with their irreconcilable differences, the two rodents march off in a huff. But wait—the frenemies realize, midstep, that being different needn’t be an impediment to friendship, and disagreement doesn’t have to be an inevitable deal breaker. Written as verse for two voices, the text presents Mouse’s upbeat questions and Squirrel’s grumpy rejoinders in an abcb rhyme scheme. The snappy meter, encapsulated in blue and salmon speech bubbles, perfectly reflects the growing frustration between the furry protagonists. Murguia’s gray-toned drawings against expanses of white negative space effectively focus readers’ attention on the silliness of the situation. She comically captures the gradual shift of the aggrieved rodents’ expressions as they transform from benign curiosity to mutual outrage. In this time of destructive divisiveness, Mouse and Squirrel’s journey toward respecting their differences is an important lesson for us all.

No toxic discourse here—Murguia’s rodents model what it means to agree to disagree.