Bolivar

*Starred Review* In many ways, Bolivar is no different than any New Yorker. He thrives on corned-beef sandwiches and tonic water. He spends afternoons traipsing through Central Park. He pays his rent. There's just one thing: he's also a dinosaur the last left on Earth. While plucky, Polaroid-toting grade-schooler Sybil is well aware of her eight-foot-tall neighbor's existence, the rest of the city is not. That is, until an erroneously issued parking ticket (Bolivar was not a car, but a dinosaur) launches the gentle giant from obscurity to frenzied center stage. Part chapter book, part graphic novel, Rubin's authorial debut (following contributions to the Redwall series and Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, v.1, 2010) is a masterful one. The text, delivered in bite-size speech bubbles and compact sentences, crackles with sly humor. And Rubin's sweeping panoramas (from city blocks to the subway) and idiosyncratic details all rendered in rich hues and lively cross-hatching never fail to infuse the everyday with a dash of quiet magic. With a whopping dino-sized heart at its core, this is as much an ode to the bustling Big Apple as it is a celebration of curiosity and childlike wonder. Readers all over will soon be joining Sybil's ranks; to see this towering, tiny-armed anomaly is to believe.--Shemroske, Briana Copyright 2018 Booklist

Bolivar lives a quiet life in New York City-visiting museums and bookstores, eating corned beef sandwiches, and largely keeping to himself. In such a fast-moving town, no one even notices that Bolivar is a dinosaur: "So long as Bolivar paid his rent (he did) and stayed quiet after 10 o'clock at night (he did that too), no one ever bothered him." Sybil, a girl next door, is the exception, but her efforts to tell her mother, teachers, and city officials about the dinosaur in their midst go unheard or dismissed, making her all the more determined to prove he exists. Debut author-illustrator Rubin spins a delightful tale that captures the childhood frustration of not being taken seriously by adults, as well as an amusing exploration of curiosity and friendship. The intricate details of the carefully crosshatched artwork and gorgeous panoramic scenes of street life give readers a great many things to discover in each panel. It's an irreverent but loving tribute to a city whose residents have seen it all but sometimes miss what's right in front of them, too. Ages 8-up. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.