THE LAST HAZELNUT

Animal best friends squabble and then make up.

Tim, a light green squirrel, and Teo, a red rabbit, are friends who believe that “there is nothing better than eating hazelnuts on a mountaintop.” When the last hazelnut disappears, however, each blames the other, and they’re both prepared to end the friendship over it. Luckily, after a day and night of anger, they simultaneously decide to forgive each other for eating the last hazelnut and bring a new bowl of nuts to the scene of the conflict. When it’s discovered that a thieving bird was responsible the whole time, the two animals agree that sharing is a good thing and that they should “roll down the mountain together.” The illustrations are remarkable, pleasantly garish, and detailed, with the animals sporting particularly flamboyant outfits (such as Teo’s black-and-white skintight pants with delicate black shoes. The story, translated from Spanish, is rendered in the present tense, not a good choice for this kind of read-aloud. And the animals’ language is stilted and uncomfortable from the first exchange: “ ‘Hi, Teo! I was looking for you. I’ve just picked some hazelnuts. Shall we share them?’ ‘What a great idea, Tim! I love hazelnuts!’ ” It goes on to give children monotone scripts for conflict resolution rather than a story: “ ‘You know what, Teo? It feels good to share.’ ‘I totally agree, Tim.’ ”

Enjoy the art, ignore the story.