Churro and the Magician

Goofy hijinks for the new-to-comics crowd.

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.

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

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