The Fan Brothers--Terry and Eric, joined again by youngest brother, Devin--bring back one of the "Perfect Pets" from their award-winning The Barnabus Project (2020) in the maybe-even-better companion title, Barnaby Unboxed. Both picture books stand solidly alone but pairing them can provide utmost satisfaction.
Barnaby is a genetically engineered "half mouse and half elephant, with just a dash of flamingo." When Barnabus glimpsed Barnaby ensconced in a box during his great escape in The Barnabus Project, Barnaby was already marked "perfect" and ready for purchase. One day, Barnaby is chosen by a pleading "little voice": "Can we take him home? PLEASE?" and the "bigger voice" responds by paying $59.99. The little girl waits until returning home to unbox Barnaby in front of a camera "so her father could record the special moment." Their relationship commences with an "I love you" and includes funny costume dress-up and learning "marvelous tricks." The pair are constant companions, performing chores, appreciating clouds, reading books, taking walks together.
Alas, Barnaby's life changes forever when the girl becomes obsessed with the new "Rainbow Barnaby" on TV. Her father's "no" brings relief to Barnaby, but the girl quickly loses interest in her (formerly) perfect pet. While she longs for Rainbow Barnaby, her father takes Barnaby for a walk, giving Barnaby the chance to run away--not forever, "just long enough for people to miss him." Unable to get home alone, though, he bonds with other lost ("or forgotten") pets, makes new friends, and survives. By the time the little girl finally finds him, Barnaby hardly remembers her. Can the girl regain his trust?
The story is a poignant delight that also seamlessly incorporates striking lessons about pets, responsibility, and furever commitment. The Fan brothers' extraordinary art--rendered in graphite and colored digitally--overflows with imagination and whimsy. Their brilliant control of perspective is an invitation to share the same point of view, accomplished with illustrations featuring the girl's or Barnaby's back, allowing the reader to share the same gaze. Particular wink-wink mirth awaits Barnabus loyalists: two spreads are almost exactly duplicated here, but with clever updates. In one such spread, the street where the Perfect Pets shop sits has since lost the Coffee Palace and the Barber Shop due to "some rather extraordinary events that occurred there." The endpapers suggest additional genetically engineered perfect pets under development. Audiences should be so lucky for more, more, more. --Terry Hong
Shelf Talker: The fabulous Fan brothers present more perfect pets in this imaginative companion to their award-winning picture book, The Barnabus Project.