Kunoichi Bunny
by Sara Cassidy
illustrated by Brayden Sato
Date: 2022
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 20
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley
The sun is out and the birds are chirping. It’s a beautiful day for Saya, her dad and her well-loved stuffed bunny, Kunoichi, to go to the park.
On their way, Saya stealthily stops a fight by flinging her floppy four-legged ninja-bunny between two snarling cats. Later, on the bus, Saya throws Kunoichi under the wheels of a child’s stroller, halting its dangerous roll toward the stairs. Dad doesn't notice as Saya uses Kunoichi to save the day time and time again on their outing and on the bus home, proving small actions can have a great impact.
This wordless picture book in graphic novel format by award-winning author Sara Cassidy and illustrator Brayden Sato will bring joy to every reader who believes in the magic of stuffed animals.
(synopsis from Goodreads)
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one.
The premise is fine. The illustrations are well done, for the most part. I guess I'm just struggling with the fact that this is aimed at kids 3-5. Without words, will children of that age understand all of the scenarios where Saya and Kunoichi save the day? Some of them are a little hard to catch. In one panel, the bunny is thrown into the path of a baseball that's supposedly about to hit a child in the head. (The trajectory, though, makes it look like the ball would sail right over the kid's head, so that might confuse some kids who pick up on what's going on there.) There's also a panel where the bunny saves an old lady from sadness, which seems a bit of a vague concept for a preschooler to grasp.
If a parent is willing to sit down with the child and make up a little story to go along with the panels, this might work. I'm just not sure if a 3-year-old sitting there looking at the book themselves will understand what it's supposed to be about.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing a digital ARC.
Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: n/a
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Overall: 3.2 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment