Bo the Brave

by Bethan Woollvin

Overview

A brave little girl learns who the real monsters are in this brilliantly funny original fairy tale from New York Times Best Illustrated Book-winner Bethan Woollvin.

Bo wants to be just like her brothers and capture a fearsome monster, but Bo is small—too small to catch a monster. Or so her brothers say. Luckily, Bo isn't one to take no for an answer, and so she sets off on a quest to catch a monster of her own. Can she defeat the furious griffin, conquer the hideous kraken, and triumph over the monstrous dragon? Or are the real monsters lurking closer than she thinks?

Author-illustrator Bethan Woollvin, creator of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Little Red, delivers an original fairy tale with a spirited female protagonist, a vibrant medieval backdrop, and a clever twist ending.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682631829
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	502,026
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Bethan Woollvin graduated from the Cambridge School of Art with a First Class Degree in Illustration. She has since made a name for herself with dark and witty twists on traditional stories. Her fractured fairy tale, Little Red, was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book. Bethan lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

02/10/2020

When Bo wants to accompany her older brothers on a monster hunt, they sneer: “You’re far too little.” But thick-skinned Bo remains undeterred. “I’m smart and brave and strong!” she thinks before setting out on her own quest. It’s not long before she encounters a griffin and then a three-eyed kraken (“Get ready to be got!”), but though both seem like monsters, their acts of kindness persuade her otherwise. At last, a cave-dwelling dragon, introduced with a page-filling roar, looks, smells, and sounds like the monster Bo has been seeking, but its cry is one of grief: the dragon’s baby has been stolen. With a loud cry of her own, Bo leads her new friends on a rescue mission that brings the story full circle. Working in gouache, Woollvin (Little Red) relies on a palette of pink, teal, gray, and orange to create a setting both modern and medieval. Bo, with her face-filling eyes, resembles Woollvin’s other fearless female protagonists; together, they seem to be rewriting the rules one fairy tale at a time. Ages 5–9. Agent: Paul Moreton, Bell Lomax Moreton Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 04/01/2020

K-Gr 3—In this tale, Bo's brothers set off to capture a monster and refuse to let her join them, saying that she is "far too little." Bo is feisty and will not be sidelined so heads off on her own to look for the monster. She first meets a griffin, who is too helpful to be a monster. They join forces and come upon an octopus-like creature named Kraken. But Kraken is just too nice to be a monster. This band of seekers hear terrible roars and find a crying dragon whose baby was stolen. She fears that her baby is being held in a nearby castle engulfed in flames. Ultimately, Bo finds her brothers there and convinces them to release the baby dragon. Bo learns not to judge these kinds of creatures based on their appearance; she needs to look closer to find out who they really are. Woollvin's art uses bold shades of fuchsia and teal. VERDICT This is a great book to delve into what heroes are made of. Highly recommended for elementary libraries.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

School Library Journal

2019-12-18
A little sister follows her two older brothers out into the big world of monster-hunting.

Bo lives with Erik and Ivar in a castle. The boys, lofty hunters setting out to catch an unspecified monster, scoff at Bo's request to come along. Undeterred, she sneaks out of the castle after they're gone "to catch a monster of her own." She encounters a series of creatures—griffin, kraken, dragon—each of which she initially assumes is a monster but realizes is not. Bo learns quickly that the unfamiliar creatures (one of whom is a parent and therefore explicitly adult) not only are not monsters, but are so harmless that she can let them literally carry her. Being polite, offering directions, or needing a child's help are the signals that immediately prove their trustworthiness, which may horrify safety-minded adults thinking about stranger danger. Child readers won't care, but nor will they find vigor in Bo's tale. The prose is tepid: "These creatures are helpful and nice and caring. We shouldn't be hunting them!" The illustrations, done in gray, pink, teal, and dull orange, have a flattened perspective that gives this "land of mountains and forests" a compressed, two-dimensional sameness to each spread. Limited palettes are sometimes gems, but this one—lacking saturation changes or compositional zest—only continues the sameness as pages turn. Football-shaped eyes barely vary with expression; the humans are white as paper.

Here be no dragons. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

"Bo, with her face-filling eyes, resembles Woollvin's other fearless female protagonists; together, they seem to be rewriting the rules one fairy tale at a time." —Publishers Weekly

"Striking. . . [a] winning alternative to the traditional monster-slaying adventure story." —The Horn Book Magazine

★ "A great book to delve into what heroes are made of. Highly recommended for elementary libraries." —School Library Journal, Starred Review

"Magnificent endpapers. . . As always, Woollvin wields a simple yet stunning color palette. . . Bo herself is a headstrong heroine, bearing a bow, net, sword, and, most important, confidence, that young readers will enjoy. A fun and colorful gateway into the world of medieval fantasy." —Booklist

From the Publisher