A Better Best Friend

Olivier Tallec author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Gecko Press

Published:1st May '24

Should be back in stock very soon

A Better Best Friend cover

“This is a dryly funny story about having a best friend—and we love the expressive face of the lugubrious mushroom friend.”

Rachel Lawson, Publisher

A feel-good picture book about best friendship told with dry comedy and an open ending—squirrel and mushroom are best friends until another best friend (a fly) comes to play.

A feel-good picture book about best friendship told with dry comedy and an open ending—squirrel and mushroom are best friends until another best friend comes to play.

This morning when I was out walking, I found a best friend. At least I think so. It certainly looks a lot like it! He really has a best friend kind of face.

In this funny picture book exploring a forever childhood question about friendship, squirrel and a mushroom explore the forest through the seasons, show each other special trees, build snow mushrooms, share the good times and bad—which become good bad times alongside a friend.

Then spring arrives, and so does a new friend. And then another. This raises a profound question for an overthinking squirrel: should we have just one best friend?

"This book is adorable!"—starred, Youth Services Book Review

"Demonstrates the value of a best friend—or two."—starred, Foreword Reviews


"Tallec's charming, child-friendly story captures an ever-present concern of many readers, young and old, and offers an open ending that invites discussion. An outstanding read-aloud for adults and children, bursting with humor and warmth."—School Library Journal


"Through a distinctive first-person narrative voice that sometimes verges on stream of consciousness, this book explores the question of what makes a best friend and whether it's possible to have more than one. . . The characters' simply drawn faces are evocative, their expressions rendered humorously hyperbolic through their stylized cartoon-like eyes."—The Horn Book Magazine


"Tallec's illustrations reflect the quietly amusing quality of the text while giving each character a distinctive look and creating a beautiful forest backdrop with stately trees, filtered light, and seasonal changes of colors. The idea of finding a friend will resonate with many children, and Squirrel's first-person narrative reads aloud well."—Booklist

  • Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalist

ISBN: 9781776575732

Dimensions: 286mm x 207mm x 100mm

Weight: 399g

32 pages