Frog and Beaver by Simon James (Walker Books)

Making new friends can be quite hard, but some folk's exuberance and effervescence can end up making them just a tiny bit...annoying!
Meet "Frog and Beaver" by Simon James, a fantastic new book about new friendships and fitting in with others.

I know, I know, you're probably inwardly groaning as this is a subject that seems to be tacked onto just about every children's book at the moment but bear with, bear with, this one's rather special.

Frog has a fantastic life living with his friends the ducks, the water voles and all the other animals in a peaceful coexistence down by the river.

There's plenty of food for everyone, and lots of lovely water. Until, that is, a new stranger fetches up on their shores.

Frog invites Beaver to come and live alongside everyone else but Beaver's a bit of a boisterous character, and soon sets to work building a whopping great big dam.

Beaver becomes so carried away with the idea of building the dam as huge as possible that he doesn't realise that his ambitious project is having a direct effect on everyone else's lives and homes. Soon, Beaver's dam drains the river upstream and everyone's forced to move out...

Can Frog convince Beaver to see the error of his ways? Or will it be too late when disaster strikes...!

Simon James' books are always a treat for the eyes, and this story does put a new slant on the 'friendship' theme, this time showing what can happen when we're not considerate to others.

"Frog and Beaver" is out now, published by Walker Books (kindly sent for review).