Friends: Snake and Lizard (review)

This sequel (imported from New Zealand) to Snake and Lizard further explores the relationship between the loquacious Lizard and no-nonsense Snake, reptile roommates. Having formed an alliance, Snake and Lizard help their animal clients and comically negotiate various issues. These include spiders (Lizard welcomes them as easy pickings, while Snake fears arachnids), eating methods (Lizard doesn't think Snake shows enough appreciation for his gifts of stolen eggs when she swallows them whole), and the treatment of prospective clients (Snake eats a frog who'd come to them for help). The contrast and conflicts between dramatic Lizard and plain-speaking Snake and the vignette-like chapters, though longer and more text-focused, bring to mind Lobel's Frog and Toad, and kids who loved that amphibious pair back in the primary grades will find this an equally enjoyable and more sophisticated friendship saga. Snake and Lizard's adventures are appropriately rooted in their desert life, yet their concerns mirror relationship issues that middle-grade kids struggle with as well. While Snake and Lizard possess real individuality and depth, they are also frequently humorous, especially when trying to make sense of the human world that sometimes intrudes upon their habitat (they are amazed that humans shed their "skins" to bathe in the river and are convinced that a blue balloon is an egg from a reptilian sky god). Bishop's frequent full-color line-and-watercolor illustrations, filled with sunset and desert hues, add further warmth and vibrancy to the text.