The super adventures of Ollie and Bea: Bunny ideas by Renee Treml

Ollie and Bea is a great graphic novel for beginner readers. Bea and Ollie are good friends who have lots of fun together with each other and the other characters in the book. 

In Bunny Ideas, Bea has created some fun games to play with her friends but they have to play by her rules, which she keeps changing so that she can win or stay in the game.  This leads to some very funny interactions between the characters and a range of emotions. 

With bright illustrations and minimal text, Ollie and Bea remind me of the Elephant & Piggie books with more characters and in-depth examination of friendship and emotions.  Ollie has to tell Bea why her friends are upset and not playing with her and help her to find a way to play her games without being so bossy and upsetting her friends. 

These easy to read books are a step up from picture books and will entertain and encourage children to read as the characters are so relatable and fun.  The friendship issues and resolutions are realistic and recognisable to the reader, with the way the animals talk adding to the fun, these books truly are “owl-some”!

I would recommend these books for a home or school library as they are bound to be ones that are read over and over again. Definitely more a read alone or with help rather than a read aloud but so much fun to share with friends reading together.

Themes: Friendship, Fun, Games, Compromise.

Mhairi Alcorn