Follow the Firefly/Run Rabbit Run!: book review

Follow the Firefly/Run Rabbit Run!

Book review by Trevor Agnew

 

Follow the Firefly/Run Rabbit Run!   Bernardo Carvalho (2014) Book Island, 32 pages, paperback NZ$19.99. 

 

Two picture books for the price of one!  Bernardo Carvalho, a Brazilian writer-artist, gives his readers a double story, using child-like colour illustrations and almost no words. “Excuse me, have you seen a flashing light?” asks a tiny, diffident firefly, and we follow him as he flickers his perilous way through swamps and jungles. It’s a game of Find the Firefly where helpful animals provide the amorous insect with directions to the city that shelters the object of his desire.

Having reached the (amusing) ending of the firefly saga, we find a new story beginning on the back page and scampering to the front.  “Follow the rabbit!” is the cry, as a lively pile-up in a city traffic jam lets a rabbit spring from his cage. Now each picture takes on a completely different aspect. We seek the rabbit in familiar city streets, swamps and jungles but details previously ignored – like a pursuing dog– become important. The conclusion will warm young hearts.

 Trevor Agnew

 Note: This book review was first published in Your Weekend magazine (Fairfax NZ) on 13 Dec 2014.

Full publishing details:

Follow the Firefly/Run Rabbit Run!   Bernardo Carvalho (2014) Book Island, 32 pp, pb, $19.99. 
ISBN 978 0 9941098 2 8 

Publisher address: Book Island, Greet Pauwelijn publisher, 49 Poplar Ave, Raumati South 5032, New Zealand   www.bookisland.co.nz