Lottie’s New Friend, written and illustrated by Petra Mathers. 32 pp. Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books (a Simon & Schuster imprint), 1999. $15.
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Learning how to navigate the sometimes-treacherous waters of friendship is one of the most important skills children acquire in their early years. What is a friend? How do friends behave toward each other? How do two best friends add a third to the mix?
With her trademark low-key humor and colorful, offbeat characters, Petra Mathers offers her own answers in Lottie’s New Friend. As readers of Mathers’ quirky and delightful avian series know, Herbie the duck and Lottie the chicken are best friends. But when Dodo, a glamorous, exotic bird — tall, purple, German, a former actress — arrives and becomes fast friends with Lottie, Herbie suddenly wonders if Lottie still cares about him.
He finds out when Lottie leaves town and Dodo needs to be rescued from her roof. The transition to a happy threesome in any friendship can be bumpy. But with lovable cookie-gobbling Herbie as a guide, readers will be cheered that if he can do it, they can too.
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If you like this book, you might also like: Lottie’s New Beach Towel, A Cake for Herbie and Dodo Gets Married, all written and illustrated by Petra Mathers; The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders and In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden, both written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Petra Mathers.
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