Opposites Attract: Our Favorite Fictional Odd Couples

Flora and the Flamingo, by Molly Idle

This is what happens when a knobby-kneed bird meets a ballerina who is single and ready to flamingle. Little Flora dons a swim cap and flippers and struggles to match the flamingo’s increasingly difficult dance moves. When she makes a flop, the flamingo teaches this girl to stand on her own two feet. Er, flippers. Interactive flaps and surprises make this wordless book a joyful romp.

Frog and Toad Are Friends, by Arnold Lobel 
These guys are the Oscar and Felix of the children’s book world. Frog—the greener of the two—is tall, friendly, relaxed. Toad is squatty, anxious and serious. And they both wear some pretty fly pants. While the pairing of a grouch with a free spirit is nothing new, the deep, caring relationship between these two will warm your heart. See why this was named one of the Top 100 Picture Books of all time in a School Library Journal poll.

Bob & Otto, by Robert O. Bruel and Nick Bruel
Bob and Otto are best friends who spend every day together playing and eating leaves. Suddenly, Bob is compelled to wriggle up a tree, Otto digs down into the dirt, and that’s when everything changes. When the two friends meet again, Bob has grown some enormous butterfly wings, and Otto is still the same old earthworm. This is a story for anyone who ever hung out with the AV club while your best friend joined the cheerleading squad. 

Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, Peter Greste, and Paula Kahumbu
What do you get when you cross a baby hippo with a giant tortoise? One remarkable friendship. This is the amazing and true story of an orphaned baby hippo, Owen, who survives a tsunami and meets 130-year-old giant tortoise named Mzee. To everyone’s surprise, the two animals adopt each other and show that love can transcend species.

The Way Back Home, by Oliver Jeffers 
When a boy discovers a single-prop airplane in his closet, he does what anyone would do—he flies it to outer space, of course. After the boy runs out of gas, he crash lands on the moon, where he befriends a Martian, who is also stuck on the lunar landscape. The two strangers find that even in the depths of space, it’s better to work together.

Amos & Boris, by William Steig
“What kind of fish are you?” Boris the whale asks a drowning mouse in the middle of the ocean. When Amos explains that he’s a mammal too, the pair find they have similarities despite their differences. Boris admires the delicacy of his new mouse friend, while Amos admires his whale friend’s formidable bulk. By the end, the duo discover that size has nothing to do with heart.

Who are your favorite fictional odd couples?