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Murray and Bun by Adam Stower (view source)
Revision as of 11:04, 2 December 2023
, 11:04, 2 December 2023no edit summary
I'm at a touch of a disadvantage in not waiting to review this before the second one – a lot of this is purely for world-building purposes, and I don't know if such building materials will be dropped for future books and therefore the adventures will be longer. Certainly the initial chunk looks like a precis chapter, to be reused again and again, but this doesn't feel too brief and too busy with establishing things – the story is still prominent. And to continue with the looks, the artwork is fine, and the text is really pared back to just a few lines per spread, meaning this rattles by, in witty and engaging ways. (It is so visual the promise of an audiobook version is the most errantly bonkers thing here.)
Adults buying this for the target under-nines will have to explain how every time Bun says his one word of dialogue – ''Bun!" '' – Murray knows precisely what the rabbit meant. But illogicality, daftness and carrots from unlikely body orifices are all included here, and in a very suitably joyous fashion. I'd count this as a prelude to the likes of [[You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! by Andy Stanton|Mr Gum]] – for those who found his books just a little too thick to hold this is an ideal stopgap.
It's easily four stars, and probably deserves the higher rating I'm giving it, in exchange for my thanks to the publishers for my early copy. The first sequel is pencilled in for August 2024.