Willy and Hugh

Anthony Browne is one of the best picture-book artists working, and Willy and Hugh is among his warmest and most accessible stories — the outwardly mismatched friendship lands with genuine emotional intelligence without ever feeling heavy-handed. Publishers Weekly and Kirkus both recognized it, and the social-emotional learning applications in primary schools speak to how naturally the themes resonate. The story's depth lives almost entirely in the illustrations, which means this one needs to be experienced as a book, not just read aloud.