Tricky Journeys 2: Tricky Rabbit Tales

By: Chris Schweizer
Illustrated by: Zack Giallongo
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Publication Date: July 2011
ISBN: 978-0761378624
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: January 6, 2012

There are many "Tricky Journeys" that you can take in this book, and every one of them can be different depending on which path you take. Rabbit is very clever, but is he the cleverest of all his friends? Naturally Fox, Gator, and Bear think they are, but perhaps if Rabbit can "pull the best trick of all" he will be the champion trickster of the forest.

One day Rabbit was standing in a field when mean old Brother Fox snuck up on him. It was "polite for animals to call one another Brother or Sister, even when one of them is trying to eat you." When Rabbit asked what he was doing, he claimed he was only going to tell him some news.

Apparently at Brother Goat's dinner everyone decided to make of list of "the ten cleverest animals in the woods." Much to Rabbit's surprise he did NOT make the list. Of course that was nonsense and he began to bore fox by telling him about all the times he had tricked someone. Ho, hum ... Brother Fox wasn't the least bit interested in hearing him. He leaned on the fence as Rabbit got all riled up and then told him "you may play good tricks. But if you were really clever, you wouldn't get caught." There were a couple of things that Rabbit could do to prove he was the cleverest animal in the forest. He could either play a trick on Brother Fox or everyone who had attended Brother Goat's party. Which would it be? Would he be able to pull off a great trick or would someone catch him?

This tale has many twists and turns with several different surprise endings. Depending on which way the reader decides to turn, he or she may find that Rabbit is "the cleverest trickster" or, in one instance, gets stuck in the swamp with Brother Gator. Young readers will definitely enjoy reading this graphic novel as they go back and forth creating their own version of a trickster tale. If they don't like it when it looks like Rabbit might end up in a pot of rabbit stew, the story can simply be restarted or backed up to follow another path. The panels in this beginning graphic novel are bright, colorful, and very appealing. In the back of the book is a brief historical vignette about the historical origins of the African American Rabbit tales.

Quill says: This is a fun, tricky trickster tale of Rabbit who wants to be the cleverest animal in the forest.