Porcupine and Cactus by Katie Frawley (review)

Reviewed by: Porcupine and Cactus by Katie Frawley Meg Cornell Frawley, Katie Porcupine and Cactus; illus. by Alex Willmore. Flamingo/Penguin, 2024 32p Trade ed. ISBN 9780593620991 18. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593621011 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-8 yrs Chatty Porcupine's prickles are utterly tickled upon meeting Cactus during his lonesome travels through the desert. Although Porcupine assumes Cactus must be a kindred spiky soul, the inert plant doesn't have much to say to Porcupine's barrage of queries and commentary, a situation Porcupine takes in stride, happy to work through Cactus' apparent shyness. Porcupine shares everything from his famous End Page 358 potato salad to his favorite color, hoping it'll encourage Cactus to share in turn ("Now you!" urges Porcupine, "Friends talk to each other. That's how it works. ") But Cactus remains steadfastly silent as the afternoon turns to evening. When a vacant-eyed bird—clearly a pal of Cactus—leaves Porcupine with a scatological present, Porcupine's finally had enough with trying to please the prickly plant: "First you won't even talk to me, and now your friend is rude!" A miffed Porcupine hits the scorching road again but finds he must return to Cactus to collect a hat he optimistically lent. A melodramatic reunion is sure to leave readers giggling, but it also subtly provides a winking reinforcement about the importance of respecting one another's boundaries, even at our most exuberant. The rubbery reticence of an inanimate cactus in the face of Porcupine's friendly onslaught is a conceit cleverly amplified throughout the story, and Willmore's mix of pencils, inks, and digital art create pleasing texture on barbed buddies and multicolored mesas alike. A heat-hazy sun moving across robin's egg desert skies provides harmoniously energetic timestamps to the sheer duration of Porcupine's cheerful abrasiveness. Readers who enjoy laughing alongside well-meaning but oblivious critters, such as Kristen Tracy's I Am Friendly: Confessions of a Helpful Bear (BCCB 4/24), will find this picture book a worthy pit-stop on their own travels. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois