Alvarado, Jenny. Pencil & Eraser: We Have a Dull-Emma! G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024. 978-0-593-69976-8. 67 p. $12.99. Grades K-3.

When class is dismissed for recess, Eraser points out that Pencil’s point is dull. They need to find a pencil sharpener ASAP before Stella returns to her desk! Pencil is excited for an adventure, and his best friend Eraser grudgingly agrees to tag along. They summit the teacher’s desk only to find an out-of-order sharpener. They then venture into the hallway, hitching a ride on the janitor’s cart to an open classroom with a working pencil sharpener. Alas, it’s atop “the tallest mountain known to humankind” … a bookshelf! Can Pencil and Eraser overcome yet another hurdle on their quest to get sharp? Bright, candy-colored panel backgrounds complement the action and humor of this graphic novel for early readers. Each chapter concludes with a genuinely funny joke break, and the final pages include step-by-step instructions on how to draw both characters. With a gentle plot twist at the end (“for now”!), Pencil & Eraser’s dull-emma will have readers giggling and awaiting the next installment: Lost and Frown, coming in 2025!

THOUGHTS: Pencil & Eraser has great appeal for fans of opposites-attract friendship stories such as Matthew Cordell’s Cornbread & Poppy series.

Graphic Novel