Sean Rubin’s Bolivar
Description
Bolivar, the last dinosaur anywhere, lives a quiet life in New York City, completely unnoticed.
With all the city’s hustle and bustle, everyone is too busy to notice Bolivar as he lives among them – taking the subway, visiting the museum, and swimming in the park.
But when his neighbor notices him, things are bound to change. And when people’s attention turns to a resulting fiasco surrounding Bolivar, will they finally notice the dinosaur?
Disclosure
I borrowed this book for free from our library system, it was provided for my personal use. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.
Review – Spoiler Free
Bolivar was such a fun read. At the library, I picked it up for the illustrations, and it was about a dinosaur and passed my initial flip-through, so I brought it home.
Broken up into 5 chapters of varying length, Bolivar follows young Sybil as she aims to convince her mom and classmates that her neighbor is a dinosaur, by trying to snap a Polaroid of him every chance she gets. Then it follows Bolivar as he stumbles deeper and deeper into a comical caper that takes him from his quiet apartment, to the mayor’s office, to the museum, to a daring escape.
All the while, almost all of the pages are fully illustrated with everything from city skylines and bustling streets, to sweeping park landscapes and museum pieces, and of course, the unnoticed Bolivar. I loved finding so many easter eggs in Rubin’s illustrations: small things that show the reader where Bolivar is, or make connections back to a previous part of the story or hint at what’s to come. I also loved how incredibly easily the emotions of a scene or character came across through the illustrations.
The story is fun, a bit of a ruckus, and really rather cute, as it reminds readers to slow down from life and notice the dinosaur right in front of them.
There were a few spots where, when reading this with young children, we needed to pause and talk about a character’s actions. The best, and most common example of this is Sybil’s constantly running off on her mother (usually in an attempt to photograph or speak with Bolivar). Sybil is the protagonist of the story, and therefore the story’s poster child for opening your eyes enough to see the world around you. But doing so at the expense of your safety, or in a way that disrespects others shouldn’t be lauded as well.
Overall, I really liked Sean Rubin’s Bolivar. It was a cute and fun read, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Bolivar goes on our list of the good graphic novels we have found, and I will probably be looking for a copy to add to our home library soon. I would definitely recommend Bolivar to children and adults alike who enjoy graphic novels, dinosaurs, and are looking for a fun, quick read.
Quote
Everyone in the city was too busy to notice Bolivar was a dinosaur. And so long as everyone was too busy to notice Bolivar, everyone in New York City thought dinosaurs were extinct.
Bolivar, Sean Rubin
Ratings
- Quality of Writing – 5
- Plot – 3
- World Building – 3
- Characters – 4
- Ease of Reading – 5
- Pictures/ Illustrations – 5
- Appropriate for Intended Age – 5
- Overall Enjoyment – 4
- Final Rating – 4.5 (Actual: 4.3) – Really Liked it/ It Was Amazing
Want to learn more about the numbers I use for rating, and the qualities I’m thinking about when writing a book review? Check out my post How I Rate and Review.