Bunnygirl: Treehouse friends by Holly Jayne

The second adventure of Bunnygirl by author and illustrator Holly Jayne continues with main character Bea aka Bunnygirl, continuing with her kind and caring manner. She and best friend Woof notice an amazing treehouse in the park and see a young boy standing on the balcony. They ask to come up but he tells them to come back later. Bunnygirl and Woof find out from their other friends that the boy does not let anyone visit his treehouse. Bunnygirl then decides that he may be shy and plans to share mini pancakes with him. This plan works and Bunnygirl and Woof are allowed to visit. They do find out that the young boy called James is indeed shy and they think about different ways of helping him make friends as for some children it is not easy. Bunnygirl and Woof chat with their other animal friends and they devise a clever strategy to help James become their friend. The outdoor cinema in the park proves a big success and the friends find out that James contributed to this.

This book is a worthwhile introduction for younger readers to the graphic presentation format with clearly illustrated panels providing simple text and images to engage the reader. As there is not text in every panel this book initially would be best shared between an older reader and younger child with directions for reading the panels very important in understanding the story.

Themes: Friendship, Kindness, Animals, Treehouse, Empathy, Overcoming Fear, Outdoor Cinema.

Kathryn Beilby