There is however a happy ending as Madame Poulet, Theodor's French teacher, swaps her non-verbal poodle Josephine. The humor and situations are outrageously subtle and surround many friendship issues that are great discussion points. Mathers' illustrations accent the absurdity with a clean graphic style edged with whimsy. When the Sun Rose is a companion book to her Grandfather Twilight. In it, the sun rise is personified as a rose-bejeweled little girl who comes in a chariot drawn by a lion to spend a day with another little girl.
Illustrations are luminous, warm, and cozy.
Sometimes friends are unusual. Kevin Henkes creates an very real invisible friend in his Jessica. Ruthie has no siblings, or pets and so the invisible Jessica is the next best thing. They do everything together, even though her parents keep denying Jessica's existence. Jessica, of course.