Cover Image: The Barnabus Project

The Barnabus Project

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Member Reviews

Very cute and adorable children’s story about an elephant/mouse hybrid named Barnabus and his friends. It’s about being happy with who you are and knowing that one day you will find a place in the world who accepts you for all your differences. Loved it and highly recommend it.

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A fun story for kids. It is a story about a failed experiment animal who dreams about life outside his bottle. Barnabus has dreams about the outside world but does he have the courage to attempt an escape to achieve that dream? A good story for children about the idea of dreaming and what will one do to achieve them.
Received this book as an advance copy. All opinion expressed are my own,

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Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

When this one came through we dropped everything for a read. Our family is a long time fan of the The Fan Brothers. The illustrations are absolutely fantastic as usual. My kids were captivated by the story and my teenager (yes, teenager!) thought it was excellent.

This is one that will definitely find a spot on our home library shelves and we cannot wait to see the illustrations in print rather than a computer screen!

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The Barnabus Project captured attention right away with the awe-inspiring illustrations. Going by pictures alone, 5 stars easily. However, the kids struggled with understanding the content of the story. I, too, thought there were a lot of open-ended issues with where the story was going; animals of any kind would not survive living in an air-tight bell jar. I didn't like having to explain mortality to children so young when reading them what I thought would be an out-of-the-box, interesting children's storybook.
In all, Barnabus started out strong, however I think this is actually an adult picture book moonlighting as a children's story book.

I received an ARC from the author and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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When The Fan Brothers come out with a new project, I am there! Their work is incredibly detailed and so beautiful in illustrations as well as text.

Their newest collaboration brings together not only Eric and Terry but also a third brother, Devin Fan. How wonderful that this family not only has incredible illustrators bout phenomenal authors as well and three of them to boot.

The Barnabus project is a story about overcoming and allowing a dream to fulfill its destiny. Barnabus is a Failed Project, not quite a mouse, not quite an elephant, who lives in a lab under the Perfect Pets store. He lives there with many other failed projects until the day the Green Rubber Suits deem them failures and order their disposal. The Failed Projects band together and bravely try to escape the deep underground lab that is their home.

The Barnabus project is a story about being brave even when you don’t feel it, the power of working together and the beauty of friendship. There are no Failed Projects in life, just projects that weren’t quite ready for the real world, just yet. It takes bravery and perseverance to ensure these projects can blossom. What a wonderful message to send to young readers. We need to try and perhaps we will fail, for now, but that just means it wasn’t the right time or the right place for that idea. You never know what the future will hold and if those projects will find their proper place.

The illustrations are so detailed and beautiful. There are cross sections of underground tunnels and many different looking creatures, I would expect it was quite fun to collaborate on all of the unusual pets on the Failed Projects shelf. The Barnabus Project is another Fan Brothers story that will resonate with readers young and old.

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The Barnabus Project is a children's book about a small elephant mouse who was created to be a pet but didn't quite make the cut.

Behind its cute, simple exterior The Barnabus Project holds quite a few important life lessons for the young children who it is geared towards. How even if you feel like you're not perfect in the eyes of the world, you're still perfect just the way you are and even if someone tells you something is impossible, believe in yourself and in your dreams because if you try hard enough those dreams can be possible.

This is definitely a book I will be looking forward to sharing with others in the future.

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https://butlerspantry.org/2020/04/22/the-great-pet-escape-a-review-of-the-barnabus-project/
A sci-fi pet adventure that shows that it’s okay to be different. Where similar stories end with characters being accepted by the group that had previously rejected them, The Barnabus Project makes the interesting choice have the characters be accepted. Instead, the book shows that the failed projects never needed to be accepted in the first place. They just needed each other. Gorgeous illustrations help bring the story to life. A touching story about cute and loveable, misfits that reassures readers that no one has to be perfect.

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The Barnabus Project is a story of misfit lab animals and their struggle to break free from their lab home. The illustrations are great and add to the story nicely. I enjoyed the read. It is a book every kids would love to have in their personal library.

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This book is so enthralling. It is about a failed projects to create a perfect pet. Barnabus was supposed to be a perfect mix between an elephant and a mouse but he wasn’t. He was in a section with a bunch of other failed creations in a secret lab underneath the perfect pet store. This is a fabulous book about friendship, cooperation and loving yourself. It’s a plus that the illustrations are gorgeous!

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Love everything the Fan brothers have done; though this may be my least favorite yet. Nice story that reminds children that perfect shouldn't be the goal!

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OMG I want this book to live on my shelves at home so I can look at its wonderful pictures and read its wonderful story whenever I want. It would be a fantastic storytime book and should be in all kids libraries!

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The Barnabus Project is an absolutely beautiful picture book. Barnabus lives in a lab beneath the Perfect Pet shop. Barnabus is part elephant and part mouse. Not considered a Perfect Pet Barnabus resides in the Failed Projects section of the lab with his friends. Barnabus learns from his friend the cockroach there is a whole new world beyond his tiny bell jar with trees and mountains. The news that Barnabus and his friends are destined to be recycled motivates Barnabus to initiate an escape plan.
Love the Fan Brothers’ picture books. The story is touching and the illustrations are “Fan-tastic”. The Barnabus Project would make an excellent Storytime selection.
Looking forward to seeing the physical book. Until then I will continue to enjoy the ebook.

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This is quite an interesting book. I think kids would like it though due to the creative mixes of animals. I really enjoyed the illustrations.

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First off let me say, the illustrations are absolutely stunning!! For some reason when I requested this book I was thinking it was a chapter book. This story is very cute and full of heart. I love that it focuses on the possibly of seemingly impossible things and that even things labeled as failures have purpose and love. Very cute book.

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A part of me feels like the ultimate message this book meant to send sort of got lost somewhere along the way. <em>The Barnubus Project</em> by The Fan Brothers (Terry, Eric, and Devin) is an expertly illustrated and adorable children's book about loving yourself no matter what. Though some in the world may look at you as an outcast, you can still love and believe in yourself and the people who matter most to you will do so as well. For me, though, in the end I took more away from the artwork and the world-building.

I got definite <em>Secret of NIMH</em> vibes from this whole book, which was kind of fascinating to me when I think back to how <em>terrifying</em> that movie was to me as a child (and still kind of is today). But <em>The Barnabus Project</em> is ultimately more cute than it is scary. I personally loved that about this book. The artwork was downright adorable in every single way, if a bit odd at times. More than anything, I loved the art best.

Now, the world in which this story is set is one in which perfect pets are created in a laboratory beneath the town, leading up into this downright charming 'bubblegum' shop that sells pets engineered to perfection. You have pets of all kinds, experiments that are often two kinds of animals melded together into the most adorable and fluffy hand-sized creature. Barnabus and his friends are the failed projects, the ones that didn't quite turn out as fluffy or as cute as wanted.

Thus, they're all set to be recycled.

I would <em>love</em> to see this book as a feature film, full length with a mildly better plot than <em>just</em> escaping and living outside in the park. I'm fascinated with this world, with the pets that exist within it. What brought about this experimenting of pets? Who leads it? There are so many things to explore within this realm that I'm dying to learn more.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

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Barnabus is a failed project. Half elephant and half mouse, he isn't quite fluffy enough, and his eyes are too small to be considered a successful pet. He lives in a bell jar in the deepest parts of Perfect Pets, with all the other "failures" as his only companions. Despite all of these things seemingly holding him back, Barnabus dreams of seeing the outside world.

If I could make up the perfect pet, it would absolutely be amongst the imaginative group of "Failed" projects. From mushroom sloths to a bumble bee-bear hybrid, the creatures in this story are all wonderfully unique.

This gorgeously illustrated picture book tells a story of friendship, loyalty, and embracing the parts that make us all unique. I loved everything about this.

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A Slightly Surreal, Gently Pointed, Magical Adventure

Lots going on here. My bottom line is that the artwork is so stunning I suspect that readers will forgive the occasional randomness of the story and its resolution. In brief, Barnabus is a "failed" perfect pet. Not fluffy enough; eyes too small. So he's imprisoned with other failed pets who didn't live up to the genetic engineers' expectations. Escape and flight is the only answer.

First, the art. It's pencil with digital coloring that gives it the look of a pastel wash or gentle watercolor. Barnabus and the failed pets are adorable, which leads us to question what is and isn't perfect. The Perfect Pet lab is impressionistic, interesting, and menacing, all at once. The pets' escape is drawn with energy and is gripping. The outside world is colorful, calm, and inviting. So at each stage of the story the tale is well complemented by the art. This is a great book to look at.

As to the story, well, we have to pack a lot into a few pages. Individuality, self reliance, friendship, cooperation, resourcefulness, acceptance -- and that doesn't even include the action sequences and the suspense of the escape. That's a lot of weight to put on the shoulders of a tiny mousephant. It's a testament to the authors' skill that it all works as well as it does, and isn't nearly as heavy-handed as it could be.

My bottom line is that this seemed like it could be a comfy and interesting book for a little read-to, and I'd be curious, while reading it aloud, to see how much of it impressed a kid and how much of its mild and gentle message got through. I think kids are often underestimated, and this struck me as exactly the kind of book that could stretch a kid a bit in a good way.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

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ARC Copy...this was good yet kind of an unusual + unique premise for a picture which is genetically engineered "Perfect Pets". Oh yes this will carry a degree of social satire on consumerism and "perfect"! The Perfect Pets blatantly seem to resemble/invoke things like Furbies, Hatchimals etc. which is fitting. Beautiful illustrations too.

Was actually kind of creepy to see the labs contrasted with the happy+bright outside world. I like Barnabus and his friends! They are misfits (creative in design) but just perfect for me...actually prefer Barnabus's "imperfect" look to "perfect" Barnabus sold in the shop. I do like Barnabus's lovably/try the impossible personality and understandable emotions relating to being recycled-changed.

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The Barnabus Project is a children's book about a small elephant mouse who was created to be a pet but didn't quite make the cut.

Behind its cute, simple exterior The Barnabus Project holds quite a few important life lessons for the young children who it is geared towards. How even if you feel like you're not perfect in the eyes of the world, you're still perfect just the way you are and even if someone tells you something is impossible, believe in yourself and in your dreams because if you try hard enough those dreams can be possible.


This is definitely a book I will be looking forward to sharing with others in the future.

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Always look forward to seeing new books from the Fan Brothers and this one does not disappoint.

Thanks to Net Galley and Tundra Books for the digital arc.

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