Winnie & Ernst — Gina Freschet

Four funny, easy-to-read stories about best friends

Winnie (a possum) and Ernst (an otter) are best friends who can weather any predicament together. These charming, screwball stories have the pair looking desperately for the gift Winnie has gotten for Ms. Zora Beaver's birthday party and lost in her own house; making Aunt Sally's Famous Nut Loaf for a bake sale, but forgetting an important ingredient; bringing the outdoors in for a first-day-of-spring garden party nearly ruined by a snowfall; and learning the repercussions of breaking a mirror, not once, but twice.

The silliness and the brightly colored pictures will have early readers eager to make the happy acquaintance of these two new characters.