Game on, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham

Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this. It’s the first of a series of highly illustrated early readers which centre on the playing of a computer game. We follow the lead character – Super Rabbit Boy – as he heads through the levels. Things do not go straight forwardly and Sunny, the person playing the game, needs to find the solution in order to progress onto the next level. If you’re familiar with gaming, then you know how it is. We finish with the baddie being dispatched, a final party for the good guys, and a little page full of reading comprehension questions.

I’m always really interested in the books that try to do something a little bit differently. Whether that’s in subject or in style, I’m here for people who are working things through and trying to carve their own little bookish path within the world. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book like this for this age group and, thinking about some conversations I’ve had recently, I’m also really pleased to see it approaching gaming so positively and genuinely. I’m not here for a ‘them and us’ scenario where the book is one thing and the game is the Evil Other. I think wherever and whenever a young reader finds a text, we should be there to meet them. (So, to sum, I like it. It’s doing good things. Good job).

I suspect that there will be something very productive here as well for readers who are feeling a little bit detached or disengaged with their reading. A genuine, charming book – and what promises to be a very lovely series.

My thanks to Nosy Crow for a review copy.

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