Born around the same time to two sisters, Jessica and Jenny were first cousins. As they grew, their parents and grandmother observed that they seemed to have little in common, despite their close relationship. Jenny was shy, and didn't like music and dance, whereas Jessica was full of movement from the time she was a baby. Jessica didn't like to work with her hands, and had no time for arts and crafts, whereas Jenny was a natural artist. Despite these seeming differences though, they did have some things in common...

Published in 1990 and long out-of-print, The Cousins is the twenty-first picture-book I have read from author/artist Judith Caseley, whose work I have recently been exploring. Like so many of her others, it features family relationships, and explores everyday occurrences and events in a warmhearted way, highlighting how the simple things can have great significance, especially for children. The artwork here, done in watercolor and colored pencil, was cute, and I appreciated some of the humorous details, such as the fact that a Humpty Dumpty doll sits on top of the dresser that Jessica is trying to climb, in one scene. There's nothing particularly outstanding here, and I don't know that I'd recommend that picture-book readers expend great energy to track this down, but if they do encounter it, and are looking for fun family stories, I would recommend it. ( )