Rat and Roach

PreS-Gr 2—The yuck factor alone should make this picture book a hit with youngsters. Rat is paunchy, sloppy, smelly, loud, and rude—in short, a character kids will follow eagerly, if only to witness his comeuppance. Roach, on the other hand, loves to decorate, dress nattily—occasionally in pink bunny slippers—and cook fancy foods. (His perplexed pink octopus on a platter is hilarious.) Best friends like these are bound to have the occasional scrap, but the tension is ratcheting up. Rat calls Roach, "Toothpick, Crabby Head, FLEA!" Roach returns with "Hair Ball, Tuna Breath, MOUSE!" And then they stop talking altogether. Facing the loss of a friend is reason to ponder, even for a raucous rodent or crawly insect. In the fine tradition of A. M. Monson's Wanted: Best Friend (Dial, 1997) or Carolyn Crimi's Don't Need Friends (Doubleday, 1999), Rat and Roach gradually conclude that they're better off together. Covell tells this familiar story with unusual visual and verbal humor and a delightfully caustic lack of sentimentality. His artwork—pictures, font, layout, down to the most minute detail—is well worth a bunch of perusals.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY