CORK & FUZZ

In this droll take on the evergreen theme of unlikely friendships, a small, lonely muskrat and a newly met, considerably larger possum search gamely for common ground. At first, it doesn’t look good: Cork loves water and veggies, while Fuzz is into bugs and dry land; Fuzz gives Cork a scare by playing dead, then inadvertently sticks him with a thorn during an attempted game of pin-the-tail-on-the-turtle. Frizzed-up appealingly in McCue’s finely inked natural scenes, the two make expressive, recognizably childlike figures that will have young readers rooting for them to find a way—as indeed they do, after discovering a mutual love for collecting interesting pebbles. The comical contrast between Cork’s steady seriousness and Fuzz’s daffy streak—“ ‘Are you a duck?’ Fuzz asked. ‘Ducks go cork! cork!’ ‘Ducks do not go cork! cork!’ Cork said. ‘Ducks go quack! quack!’ ”—adds even more animation to this budding friendship. Readers will hope for sequels. (Easy reader. 5-7)