2015 Review Round-Up: Early Reader: Bunjitsu Bunny's Best Move, John Himmelman

Bunjitsu Bunny's Best Move (Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny)
John Himmelman
ISBN: 9780805099713
Isabel the bunjitsu is back, and better than ever with a new collection of black-and-white-and red illustrated stories.
Read October 2015

I am seriously in love with these books.  In this round, we learn about the gift of failure, to avoid letting your opponent set the terms of your conflict, and lots of small child-sized life lessons (although honestly most adults could learn a thing or two from Isabel, her friends, and her teachers about how to live your best life).  The stories are short, and the "lessons" are a bit more preachy than in the first book, but they're still not treacly or saccarine or false-faced.  Isabel remains a flawed character, as do her friends and teachers, which is nice to see in this sort of story.  Most of the concepts are centered around jujitsu ideals and concepts, but equally, most of them are applicable to the wider world and to personal development as well.  An excellent read for the earliest of bunjitsu!

Graphic Novel: El Deafo, by Cece Bell

El Deafo
Cece Bell
ISBN: 9781419710209
Crudely-drawn anthropomorphic bunnies inhabit this fictionalized biography of a child with partial hearing loss.

Cece Bell tells her early life story, and how she felt isolated and set-apart by her deafness and the resulting technical assistance devices (most of which were bulky and obvious) until her natural enthusiasm eventually win her friends, and some unintended side-effects of her hardware make her a school hero.  The story doesn't linger - we get a quick fade to black after she begins to feel like she fits in, leaving the focus of the narrative on her feelings and difficult experiences as someone "different."

A very honest and insightful author's note at the end explains the variable degrees and social experiences of deafness and of Deaf culture, explains her own situation, and that this book isn't trying to speak to an overarching narrative or cultural situation - just her own confused feelings as a child.

Very cute, and a great addition to the graphic novel collection, as well as for anyone looking for diverse types of life stories and characters.

Tatty Ratty, Helen Cooper

Tatty Ratty, Helen Cooper.  ISBN: 0374373868.

Read Sept 20, 2013

Picture book:  Shades of Knuffle Bunny, this dirty bedraggled well-loved bunny finally gets left on a bus and is gone for good - or is he?  Wise parents and imaginative childish ideas combine to show the wild adventures the bunny has before he's reunited (looking much different after his adventures, mind you) with his child at the "Kingdom of Bunny" store.

Really love the illustrations here, and the wild but soft-edged adventures the bunny goes on.  I do think he needs a new name at the end, he's "tatty-ratty" no more, at least not for a while!

Good not-so-subtle reminder for parents to buy back-up lovies for their little ones.