BRIAN AND BOB

An improbable tale, but a happily-ever-after one, so young readers will suspend their disbelief as they pull for the reunion of Ripper’s guinea pig protagonists. Narrative and story architecture aren’t Ripper’s strong suits—left to them alone, she’d be wise to fold her hand—but she trumps readers with her winsome artwork: it’s not easy to convincingly make a guinea pig scowl or to cross its arms in a huff, but it’s visual magic when it works, and Ripper does it with aplomb. Here, Brian and Bob are two happy guinea pig chums who share a cage in a pet shop. Comes the day that Bob gets hauled off to a new home and Brian becomes miserable. Through a series of unlikely if innocuous circumstances, he finds himself back in Bob’s cage-side company. Then they get back to doing what they do best: snoozing, hanging out at the food bowl, and looking around—la dolce vita. (Picture book. 2-5)