Top 5 books featuring Unusual Best Friends

Published on: 25 July 2023

Illustrator Steven Lenton shares his top 5 books featuring unusual friends

Bumble and Snug by Mark Bradley

Two crazy and charming funny friends, stylishly brought to life in full colour dynamism. Snug-gle in and read this one together!

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

My all time favourite Dahl, with only child James meeting a host of wonderful insect friends who go on a huge adventure together, it’s just peachy!

Rabbit and Bear by Jim Field and Julian Gough

Beautifully illustrated and written by a such a talented and creative duo.  Exploring friendship dynamics and emotions through fun stories, this series is almost too good to bear!

The Claude Series by Alex T Smith

Is there an odder pairing than a dog and his sock best friend?!  Quirky, strange and beautiful, be sure to check out the tv series too! 

Frank and Bert by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros 

A hilarious pairing of a fox and a bear in a new series of picture books, deceptively simple in design, the pacing and humour is, to be frank, fantastic!