Peach and Plum: Here we come! Friends who rhyme, all the time by Tim McCanna

There's something about sentient food that has been enormously popular in the last few years. Terry Border has picture books and early readers featuring various talking snacks and packaged foods, Shaskan's Pizza and Taco is a big hit with a lot of my readers, and I could keep going. However, while the combination of talking food stuffs and early reader comics is not unique, this particular iteration is very nicely done and the bold, simple art makes it easy for emerging readers to follow the panels.

Peach and Plum, alternating words in rhyming sentences, introduce readers to their town of Fruitdale. The two fruits have a variety of simple adventures, playing ball, sharing treats, and encountering different fruits. Throughout the story, they crack jokes and keep the rhyming game going. The art is colorful and created with simple lines and a basic palette of colors. The two fruits wrinkle up, sweat, and get bug-eyed with surprise as they run through the chapters on their little stick legs. The text is simple as well and although there's no guide for beginning comic readers, the rhyming sentences will guide them through the panels in the correct direction.

Verdict: This is a nice addition to silly early reader comics and has a strong rhythm and humor that will appeal to beginning readers. It's not ideal for those just starting, as it does require some split focus to follow the text and art as well as the rhymes, but readers who are ready for Elephant and Piggie should be able to handle this.

ISBN: 9780316306102; Published August 2022 by Little Brown Co.; Borrowed from another library in my consortium