Agnes and Clarabelle

Over four stories, one for each season, Griffin (the Oodlethunks series) and Sheinmel (the Stella Batts series) introduce friends Agnes, a pig, and Clarabelle, a chicken. Both pals have moments of adventurousness and trepidation at various points, and a slightly daffy air pervades all four tales: Clarabelle is highly involved in planning her own surprise birthday party, and the friends opt to sunbathe in the parking lot during a summer trip to the beach, since Agnes isn’t a fan of unfamiliar places. The story arcs aren’t always entirely satisfying, but there’s plenty to enjoy in this friendship guided by compromise, which gains added cheeriness from Palacios’s full-color illustrations. Available simultaneously: Agnes and Clarabelle Celebrate! Ages 5–7. [em]Author’s agent: (for Griffin) Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management; (for Sheinmel) Laura Dail, Laura Dail Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Kendra Marcus, Bookstop Literary. (Jan.) [/em]