Cornbread and Poppy by Matthew Cordell

To me, Cornbread and Poppy conjured a world of fun and adventure with animals in a rural setting. And Poppy is a great name, but Cornbread . . . I was in love with that character name from the get-go! Matthew Cordell interview with Book Page

This sweet little book, which is perfect for a newly independent reader, has just 80 illustrated pages and three chapters. It is Winter and Cornbread has been busy all through Summer collecting and foraging for food which he has then carefully preserved and stored. He has enough to last the whole Winter but perhaps he does not have enough to share with his friend Poppy. Why doesn't Poppy have her own Winter store of food. Unfortunately she has been way to busy having fun and now it seems to be too late. There is no cheese - Sam is all sold out; there are no grains; and Grandma Winkle is all out of berries.

Poppy decides they only place she might find food is at the top of Holler Mountain. But no one goes there - it is too dangerous. The only mouse who ever ventured up the mountain never returned. Cornbread is terrified but he cannot let his best friend set off alone so the pair put on their warmest clothes and fill a cart with foraging equipment and they set out to climb the mountain. 

Who will they meet? Is it really as dangerous as they have imagined? And will Cornbread and Poppy reach that all important happy ending?

Cornbread and Poppy are endearing characters, poised to join the ranks of other memorable early reader sets of best friends old and new, ...  Cornbread and Poppy are broadly but carefully delineated, and their personalities drive the story at a brisk pace. Book Page

When you read Cornbread and Poppy with a young child do spend some time looking at the cover. You can see Holler Mountain, a painting of cheese (is this a favourite food?) and I love their little hats which allow their ears to poke through. The hand drawn illustrations by Matthew Cordell are so appealing. Take a look at his preliminary sketches here on the blog Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast. Here is the second book from this series I do hope there are plans for more. (Update Book 3 will be Cornbread and Poppy at the Museum). Here is an interview with Matthew Cordell (scroll down on the Little Brown page  30 minutes). In this video Matthew Cordell draws Cornbread and Poppy!

I am a huge fan of beginner books like Cornbread and Poppy. I have a Pinterest complied with my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything entitled Unlikely Friends.  Cornbread and Poppy are both mice and so they are perhaps not unlikely friends but if you look a little deeper one character - Cornbread - is a cautious planner while the other - Poppy is adventurous living for the here and now. So this pair do have quite different personalities.   Here are a few others books about pairs of friends:

Houndsley and Catina series

Mouse and Mole

Upstairs Mouse, Downstairs Mole

The Lion and the Bird

Cork and Fuzz

Jasper and Scruff

Matthew Cordell is the illustrator of:

Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie