Le Manchot #[nn]

A charming Franco-Belgian all-ages comic from Carabas Jeunesse, Le Manchot presents a wonderfully odd-couple pairing right on its cover: a gruff, green-capped elephant in an orange coat hunches over a worktable, fussing with something small, while a sharp-eyed penguin watches him with unmistakable suspicion. Arnaud Quéré's warm, expressive cartooning gives both characters a lively personality that leaps off the page, making this 2007 release an appealing pick for readers young and old who love their animal characters with a dash of comic tension.