Iris and Isaac by Catherine Rayner

Little Tiger Press, 2010 ISBN 9781848950924.
(Age: 4-6) Recommended. Picture book. Friendship. Another charming story from Rayner, with her distinctive water colours across the pages, is offered in this lovely story of two friends who fall out.
When Iris makes a snow bed it is too small for both of them. They both wriggled and shoved to make more room, but it became too flat for them both, so they walked off in different directions in a polar bear huff. Each then saw things that they normally would have shared with the other, and so each became more despondent until suddenly they saw each other, the best thing of all to see.
The bears are outlined in black and their white coats given in a variety of different soft colours to stand out against the mainly white background. Swathes of colour give a beautiful impression of the northern lights and a deep ice cave, while the land over which they walk changes from the cold and unfriendly white to a more inviting blue as they draw closer together. In a classroom, a teacher or adult will be able to use this book in teaching about friendship and getting things back on an even keel after a falling out.
Fran Knight