Review - Brian the Brave

Brian the Brave
by Paul Stewart
illustrated by Jane Porter
Date: 2019
Publisher: Flyaway Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Every sheep is different. Some white, some black. Some striped, some spotted, some with hats! They're all still sheep, and they can all play together. At least that's what Brian thinks—until the other sheep say they can be friends only with sheep that are just like them.

But when danger strikes, can Brian help the sheep come together? Can Brian the ordinary become Brian the Brave?

This lively story with bright, playful artwork will prompt conversations about friendship, teamwork, and bias based on race or language.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a cute little picture book about a bunch of funky-looking sheep who have to overcome their biases to save their own sheepskins.

First of all, I love the page at the beginning introducing all the sheep with their unique appearances. Their names are pretty amusing, too. Once we get into the story, it's obvious that we're reading about racism and language biases. Brian's pretty open to playing with all sorts of different sheep, but some of the others don't want to play with a white sheep or a plain sheep or a sheep that uses funny words. Eventually, the biased sheep all run off to play together, leaving Brian all by himself. Now, a sheep by himself is ripe for the picking, and poor Brian does encounter a wolf. The wolf chases him and then chases all the other sheep, not caring one whit about whether they have horns or fancy wool or how they bleat. It's Brian who rallies the rest of them to take on the wolf, and they eventually defeat him and then prance off into the field together to play.

The message is a little heavy-handed, although for little kids the lack of subtlety is probably okay. I'm guessing that there are also going to be people who see this as having a white-supremacist tone, since Brian is white and is the sheep who's first discriminated against (I would hope that people wouldn't read so much into a children's picture book, but I won't be surprised if it happens). We've got striped and polka-dotted sheep here, though, so it's not like there's a straight art-to-life comparison. Any group can be discriminated against, and we see that here with the sheep not wanting to play with each other if they're too plain, too white, too horny (um... you know what I mean), too creative with their word choices, etc.

The colourful collage illustrations are interesting. Each sheep is distinct and unique. The wolf is kind of rough-looking, but it's suitably scary with lots of teeth and a lolling red tongue. I don't really have any complaints about the pictures; they're pretty fun to look at, and complement the story well.

Overall, this is a nice little book about overcoming prejudice and appreciating the similarities that bring us together rather than the differences that set us apart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flyaway Books for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5