Barnaby Unboxed! by The Fan Brothers

We all wanted Barnaby to go on a hero’s journey: facing disillusionment, obstacles, and various ordeals, but in the end coming back to his home, 

transformed for the better by his experiences. Fan Brothers

Barnaby is half mouse, half elephant with a dash of flamingo. He has been living in a box on the shelf of a toy shop. His box says he is a perfect pet and fully trained. There are so many perfect pet boxes to choose from. It seems no one is noticing that he is perfect until one day a young girl arrives. Barnaby becomes her very special friend. They do everything together. Best of all they enjoy watching the television series 'Barnaby and Friends'. Sadly though, it is this show that leads to a devastating change. The Perfect Pet company release a new Rainbow Barnaby. 

"The next day, the little girl asked her father if she could have a Rainbow Barnaby."

"The answer was no. Barnaby felt a wave of relief wash over him. But after that, the girl no longer played with him quite as often as she used to ..."

Do you recognise this plot idea - I love you Blue Kangaroo; Ducky's Nest; Arnold, the Prickly Teddy; The Sea Saw; and Finding Monkey Moon.

The little girl no longer takes Barnaby for walks. And one day her father fails to notice that Barnaby is left behind. It is raining and dark and Barnaby is lost. Will he ever find his way back home? And after weeks outside in the rain and dirt will the little girl even recognise him? Is there someone who can help him? 

I have read this book many, many times and the warm happy ending still makes me so emotional. 

Joy, despair, reunion, community—delightfully, all here. Kirkus

Barnaby Unboxed is a simple story, with universal themes, and it is told beautifully. The possibility of interesting and important conversations about exploitation would be a bonus. Just Imagine

There are some valuable themes of found family, what home means, self-worth and finding (and appreciating) what we have. It's a profound little book, and told in age appropriate language, all accompanied by luminous impressionist inspired artwork throughout. Nonstop Reader

It will be exciting to show this book to a group of Teacher-Librarians at a conference next month. The case reveal (pulling off the dust jacket to reveal the image underneath) is a spectacular surprise. And then I can show the brilliant end papers. (You can see these parts of this book here). School libraries here in Australia have very limited budgets but these two books should be added to every collection - yes they are that special! See inside Barnaby Unboxed here. Check out all the books by The Fan Brothers - I have talked about nearly all of them here on this blog. Here is a generous interview between The Fan Brothers and Betsy Bird. 

I previously talked about The Barnabas Project which is the companion volume to Barnaby Unboxed. 

The Barnabus Project

Barnaby Unboxed might make you think of Toy Story. Older readers should look for this middle grade series:

They threw us away

And this powerful book too:

Ollie's Odyssey

Clink by Kelly DiPucchio and Matthew Myers

This book was published in 2011 so I was surprised to discover it is still available but sadly it is quite expensive here in Australia. [9780061929281]

Begin with the end papers which are blue prints issued August 22, 1938 showing the design of CLINK model 3674A. CLINK is 

• intended for indoor use
• not suitable for immersion
• may be fitted with a waffle iron head
• it is not advised to form a relationship between the contractor and the completed model

Clink is languishing in the robot shop. He is rusty, squeaky and falling apart. 

"Nobody wanted an old robot."

"The world, it seemed, was no longer interested in a robot who had been programmed to play music and make toast."

"One by one, Clink watched his friends go home with happy families. He hadn't been programmed to cry, but somehow he leaked rusty tears every time. Then something inside that old robot broke, and he simply switched off his speakers and gave up."

In this picture you can see Clink making burnt toast and his disastrous hair clipping skills.

Then one day a young boy steps into the store. Somehow Clink catches his attention (think of Corduroy by Don Freeman). It doesn't matter that Clink is old, broken, rusty and out of tune. The young boy knows Clink is perfect. And so yes, we have that all important happy ending. 

I found the original Harper Collins trailer. See inside this book here. Use the label robots at the bottom of this post to see other robot picture books and novels I have explored on this blog. I am slightly crazy about robots!

DiPucchio has created a world where robots are cool but only if they are new.  Her writing is long enough to really describe a full world.  The book reads aloud easily and has a great built-in appeal with the charm of Clink himself on the cover and the robot theme.  Waking Brain Cells

You can see other books by Kelly DiPucchio here. 

The text in this book reminded me of Arthur by Amanda Graham - no body wanted an old dog. I also thought of Arnold the Prickly Teddy. 

Read more here