In a sweet follow up to their brilliant picture book, The Barnabus Project, The Fan Brothers (Devin, Eric and Terry) bring readers back to the same world with a new story titled Barnaby Unboxed.

Barnaby is a perfect pet sold at the Perfect Pet store. When Barnaby is purchased and goes home with a little girl, he is validated with love and affection that is until a new Barnaby is unveiled, Rainbow Barnaby. Overnight, Barnaby doesn’t quite have the same appeal and gets lost while out on a walk. Barnaby must relearn everything he thinks he knows about himself while making new friends along the way.

The Barnabus Project is such a favourite not only at my house but also among the preschool and kindergarten crowd at work. Every year the book is read and projects are created and the children count it among their favourites. When I saw that a new book in the same world, a companion of sorts, was arriving on bookshelves I knew I had to have it. I love how The Fan Brothers took an image from the The Barnabus Project and used that to tell the story of the perfect pet, Barnaby.

I love how the brothers were able to explore just what it means to be “perfect”. Is there even such a thing or is something just perfect for someone? The environmentalist in myself and The Bee really loved how the story explores our fast fashion culture and how we view things as easily disposable instead of finding another use, another person or another place for something that is not so “perfect” anymore. What a wonderful book to use to discuss consumerism and ways that we can ruse and repurpose in our own lives!

In the end, this is a story about a pet and the love and companionship that we experience from our pets, how they enrich our lives and provide comfort and joy. It’s also a reminder that even if something shiny and new comes along, the love for a pet will always endure.

The illustrations are gorgeous as I have come to expect from The Fan Brothers. All of their stories are treasure stories that get loved until they are imperfect in looks but still perfect for readers. The illustrations are vivid with hidden charm throughout which makes readers return over and over again.