Move Over, Elephant and Piggie!
Check out these best friend pairs that are as funny and full of heart as your favorite pig and elephant.
The school year is swiftly approaching, but summer isn’t over yet, and nothing makes summer reading better than summer reading with friends!
Mo Willems created what is possibly the best pair of friends in a book (well, a long series of books) in Elephant & Piggie, who make taking naps, throwing balls, playing trumpets, having a party and, of course, being in a book so hilarious and heart-warming!
If you’re looking to expand your circle of book friends to buddy pairs similar to Elephant & Piggie, check out these duos and their series, made for beginning readers who love to laugh:
Fox and Chick series by Sergio Ruzzier
The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories
The Sleepover and Other Stories
Like Elephant and Piggie, Fox and Chick are very different from each other but are still friends. Fox likes to be quiet and calm, but Chick prefers parties and adventures. In these collections of short stories drawn in watercolor comic-book panels, readers will fall in love with them both. The humor is a bit gentler than Elephant & Piggie, but it is just as charming and engaging.
Arlo and Pips by Elise Gravel
Arlo & Pips. Volume 1, King of the Birds
Join the Crow Crowd! (Arlo & Pips, Volume 2)
New Kids on the Flock (Arlo & Pips, Volume 3)
If you haven’t yet encountered the genius of Elise Gravel, you’re welcome. In the tradition of her Disgusting Critters series that combines facts about different reviled insect and animals (the fly, the rat, the slug, the worm, etc.) with charming illustrations and hilarious jokes, this graphic novel series is awash in interesting facts and funny asides.
Arlo is a crow; Pip is his new bird friend. While Arlo is very smart, as most crows are (and as he is quick to point out), he still has a lot to learn from Pip, and the two grow their friendship over three books. I’m eagerly awaiting more volumes!
Chick and Brain by Cece Bell
If you like your humor irreverent, filled with the hilarious results of miscommunication and misunderstandings, you may have found your new favorite pair, Chick and Brain, from the author and illustrator of El Deafo.
Narwhal and Jelly by Ben Clanton
Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness
How could we forget one of our favorite friends of Tulsa, the 2023 Books To Treasure illustrator Ben Clanton? He has created worthy successors to Elephant & Piggie with his best friend pair of Narwhal and Jelly – a perpetually sunny narwhal (Narwhal) and far more anxious jellyfish (Jelly). Their adventures continue the Elise Gravel pattern of combining adventurous and engaging stories with fascinating facts about ocean animals and more.
Bonus Books:
There’s an entire series of books that Elephant and Piggie themselves vouch for: Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Series. There’s also a single title with strong Elephant and Piggie vibes that I’m hoping will become a series, Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends by Kaz Windness.
