Churro and the Magician

September 1, 2021

PreS-Gr 2-In this wordless graphic novel, a young bunny named Churro misses the school bus one morning and instead has a magical adventure. He finds a magic wand near the bus stop and walks through town waving it. Readers will laugh as he transforms a skyscraper into a gigantic chest of drawers and a train becomes a huge centipede. But the other residents of the town are not amused, and neither is the wand's true owner, who sees television coverage of the havoc Churro has caused and sets out to reclaim his wand and repair the town. The wordless format allows young readers to imagine their own version of the story; they may want to describe the action, predict what will happen next, add dialogue for the various characters, or even provide sound effects. Illustrations use cheerful pastel colors, with a few darker accents and the magician's black suit for contrast. Characters' expressions make their reactions to events clear despite the lack of text, and the flow of the story line is easy to follow. VERDICT An entertaining story for readers transitioning from picture books into graphic novels.-Suzanne Costner, Fairview Elem. Sch., Maryville, TN

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 18, 2021
Magic catapults a bunny’s school day into something spectacular in this adventuresome early reader graphic novel. En route to the bus, paper-white rabbit Churro, clad in a jaunty blue-striped shirt, is waylaid when posters showcasing a magic show cause starry-eyed distraction. Unable to catch up to the bus, Churro attends the show, which is full of wonders, including the unlikely transformation of a rotund watermelon into a plump pink pig. Afterward, Churro inadvertently acquires the magician’s wand, and subsequently wanders the city casually wreaking havoc—at the flick of Churro’s wrist, a cab parked next to a street lamp changes into a dinosaur (“CRUNCH! NOM!” reads the book’s limited text as the dino tucks into a meal of tree leaves). Before long, Churro is sailing in a cloud, opening the drawers of a high-rise turned filing cabinet, and worriedly surveying the chaos below. Luckily, the magician learns of Churro’s hijinks just in time to help make things right. Employing clean lines and flat, cool colors, newcomer Caba’s briskly paced, imagination-fueled digital panels tell a story that’s equal parts comical, magical, and welcoming to new readers. Ages 4–7.

February 1, 2022
Grades K-3 When Churro visits a magic show, he becomes enthralled with the magician turning objects into animals with a wave of his wand. When the magician's wand finds itself in Churro's eager hand, he takes it to the park where (flick!) a car becomes a dinosaur and begins chomping trees, and (zap!) a statue comes to life and joins a Jazzercise class. Things escalate quickly, and when Churro turns a train into a mega-centipede that begins wreaking havoc on the town, the magician finally retrieves the wand and puts everything right . . . albeit with a little twist. Caba's town full of anthropomorphized bunnies is charming and quirky, and the soothing pastels and cuteness-overload style keep the story gentle rather than frightening as the magic goes terribly wrong. This wordless adventure is a terrific addition to the recent boom of graphic novels for emerging readers. The plot, although simple, veers into surrealism and requires its reader to use sequencing skills to keep up, and the panels provide fun clues, their gutters creating built-in anticipation for the magic reveals.

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