Bookie and Cookie

The round-headed, toylike protagonists of this meta fable each live on one side of the book’s opposing pages. Residing on the verso, Bookie is a bespectacled bibliophile portrayed with brown skin and a brimmed hat; on the recto, pale-skinned Cookie is an avid baker who sports a chef’s toque. Once best friends, they now find themselves stewing on their respective sides. Gómez (A Place for Rain), working in single-plane digital and paper collage artwork, explains why: their get-togethers are “always in the right-hand page of the book,” and Bookie is fed up with having to cross the volume’s gutter. “My page is nice too, but you have never been there,” Bookie says; “I just like my page,” Cookie responds. “I don’t like what I don’t know.” The figurative and literal breach is bridged when Bookie hits on a clever, cookie-fueled plan—one that even propels the duo to together explore the world “outside their pages.” It’s a gentle illustration of how close friendships can require adjustments as well as give and take. Ages 3–7. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Sept.)