Cover Image: Churro and the Magician

Churro and the Magician

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Fun engaging characters that are perfect for a read aloud and getting children to think about the impact of their decisions on others in the world around them. Lots of fun illustrations accompany the narrative and spark curiosity from young readers. This book is a lovely tool for young readers to begin thinking about making predictions, work on sequencing and cause-and-effect. I’d recommend it as well as it introduces (through language) diverse representation, especially in bilingual classrooms.

Was this review helpful?

Churro the Magician by Gaston Caba

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Clarion Books for the digital advanced reading copy.
“Churro and the Magician” by Gaston Caba is a cute wordless picture book about “Churro” the rabbit finding a magic wand. He creates a little unexpected trouble while learning how powerful a magic wand is. Many children will delight in retelling the story of Churro.

Was this review helpful?

Cute children’s book with an unusual storyline and drawings about a bunny who finds a magic wand. This book has no words just drawings which helps appeals to readers of all languages.

**thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

Was this review helpful?

An adorable, wordless graphic novel about a little bunny that finds himself in charge of a magician's wand. Full of beautifully simplistic illustrations. Perfect for young and beginning readers.

Was this review helpful?

This is a super fun little book! I was also very fond of the illustrations. This is a great addition to any collection or library, and a great rec for reluctant readers.

Was this review helpful?

Nice illustrations! I didn't find this book different and wasn't really a fan of the wordless story. I assume it would be better in the hands of a child that has an imagination and could come up with a fun plot for this book.

Was this review helpful?

Absolutely beautifully illustrated and a lovely story told. My son who is autistic loved this book. He found it easy to follow along with and understand.

Was this review helpful?

This graphic novel is a solid choice for guiding a child through the transition from picture books to novels. It's a simple story and easy to follow with text and images both playing a role in story telling.

Was this review helpful?

Wordless magical story.

Young rabbit Churro misses his school bus and instead walks into a magic show he spots. There he sees a magician using a wand to turn objects into real animals - wow!

Leaving the theatre and seeing the magician getting into his car, the magician's wand and suitcase (turning into a small creature) jump off and Churro finds himself with a magical wand and a chance to have some fun.

That lamppost and car... why they could become a dinosaur! The church would make a fantastic rocket! Though of course, there will be consequences to these newly moving magical articles... and Churro may not be able to fix things alone.

Quite charming, lots of imagination, no words, all the story comes out of the pictures, which proceed like a comic strip. Parents reading will be able to narrate with their children to tell the story.

Cute, colourful and little minds will love the magical element of this.

For ages 3-8.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample e-copy.

Was this review helpful?

Churro and the Magician is a sweetly whimsical illustrated story for the youngest readers by Gastón Caba. Released 15th Feb 2022 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on their Clarion imprint, it's 32 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook (comiXology) formats.

This is a nice wordless fully illustrated story in panels of a young bunny who is a huge fan of magic and who unexpectedly finds himself in possession of a real magician's wand. General shapes, clouds, trains, light posts, and more come to life with unexpected results when he waves the wand around. There is no text in the story, so it would be a good choice for the very youngest: babies up through early reading years. It would be great for story time or bedtime reading. The people in the story are anthropomorphized bunnies and are drawn interacting with their world and suddenly real magic with predictable confusion and alarm.

The art is simple and easy to understand. I like how the artist/author uses the outline shapes of things to show the similarity to living things; a light post becomes the neck and head of a dinosaur, a train with lots of train cars turns into a caterpillar, etc. This could be used with youngsters in so many ways to tie into observation and art exercises in a home or classroom setting.

Lots of fun for the youngest.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Was this review helpful?

This is a Children's Picture Book that I read with my twin boys. This book does not have words, but the pictures tells a story without words. My boys loved this book so much. I love the pictures in this book so much. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Etch/Clarion Books) or author (Gaston Caba) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Was this review helpful?

I loved this graphic novel for young adults. The rabbit ends up with a magic wand and the fun begins. Children will love this book and let their imagination tell the story!

Was this review helpful?

Churro and the Magician tells the story of Churro, a little rabbit that falls into a series of unfortunate events on his way to school. First missing the bus, this leads him on an adventure that he would have missed had he actually made it to school.

This book is completely a picture book. There are very few words in this book, and thus would be great for non-readers and early readers alike. They could feel like they are "reading" the book, and work on their self-esteem and confidence with reading before they get to attempting word books. The illustrations draw you in, and they are easy to follow and interpret. Overall, this book is an excellent example of what I would want in a book for non and early readers.

Thank you to the author, illustrator, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Churro and the Magician is certainly a creative book with Willy Wonka-esque vibes. The illustrations are so adorable and colorful it almost looks like a videogame.

I will say upfront that I do believe wordless books can work and be just as effective as books with traditional narratives. However, I'm not convinced this one doesn't need words. I believe a sparing, humorous narration could've been included and resulted in a better story. I was thinking primarily of the children's show Pocoyo, which pulls off this balance well.

As is, I don't think it's something my kids (6 and 3, almost 7 and 4) would "get." It's a bit disjointed.

Was this review helpful?

I love how creative the children's books are, and this one is an excellent example. It was a wonderful experience looking at this with a child and making up our own words and sentences. Great work!

Was this review helpful?

Churro and the Magician by Gaston Caba
Childrens’ Graphic Novel, Coming in February 2022 from Clarion Books, 32 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:
-There’s absolutely no words (I’m coming back to this point, I promise). Not even a name. If it weren’t for the title we wouldn’t know this bunny was Churro.

What I Did Like:
-There’s no words. Which means this is the perfect book for sparking creativity in tiny readers. Let them tell the story. Let them see what’s happening. Let them use their own imagination. There’s no wrong answers because there are no words.
-The illustrations are colorful and fun.

Who Should Read This One:
-If you have little ones at home, use this one as a way to spark a little creativity when reading together. It’s adorable and you can’t go wrong with great illustrations.

My Rating: 3 Stars. To fully appreciate this one you’d really need to imagine hearing a small child tell the story for you. Plus, I know a lot of parents will want a children’s book to have words in order to facilitate reading strategies. For that reason, this is a pretty niche book. If you like the idea of a wordless picture book, this is a good one!

Was this review helpful?

Churro and the Magician is an adorable children's graphic novel. Chaos ensues when Churro accidentally gets a magicians wand and begins transforming things with magic. The wordless format lends itself to inspire kids' imaginations. My five-year-old enjoyed discussing all the trouble she would get into with a magic wand like that! I do wish there had been a little bit more depth to the characters, but overall a very cute story. As a side note, I know want a rabbit named Churro! 4.5 stars

Was this review helpful?

The illustrations are great and the graphic novel panels easily tell a story without using words. This would be a great book for any child but especially one in speech therapy so they can make up their own storyline.

Was this review helpful?

This little book is adorable! I love the illustrations and the mischievous bunny. This book would be a great introduction to graphic novels for young kids.

My favorite part is that it's wordless- so you can put a new spin on the story with your child every time! A great way to encourage them to use their imaginations.

Thanks to the publisher for the sneak peek!

Was this review helpful?

A little bunny named Churro misses his school bus ride because he is enthralled by a poster announcing a magic show that he was wishing that he could attend. Not deterred by his school bus mishap Churro proceeds to buy a ticket and enters the theatre where the magician is waving his magic wand causing the attendees to cheer and excitement to accelerate every time he does another trick.

After the show the magician hails a taxi and his suitcase is strapped to the top which houses his beloved wand. By some unexplained phenomena the wand ends up in the hands of Churro. Now how could that have happened? Churro is ecstatic the wand is now his? He hurries off through the town and causes much mayhem and chaos. Oh my!

Will the magician retrieve his wand and help Churro restore the town to it's pre-peaceful state?

This wordless graphic novel is a book full of imagination and fun! I love it as the reader becomes the storyteller and the storyline becomes his own. Churro learns that there are consequences to one's actions and I like that the book has an open ended conclusion leaving the reader to decide if everything gets back to normal once again.

The illustrations are humorous, whimsical, and engaging, which I love.
This is a simple comical book that is a great introduction to graphic novels for new readers. I highly recommend it.

Was this review helpful?