BITTY AND BUB, BEST BUDS

Adventures abound in this first of a beginner book series.

Aimed at the earliest of readers, these endearing comics center on Bitty, a gray rabbit clad in a red-and-white-striped shirt, and Bub, a squirrel with a penchant for purple. Five stories of varying lengths pack in drama, pathos, and humor using minimal words and sentences. The tales involve a race with a surprise ending, a discovery of cookies in the woods, a pet rock (or is it a turtle?), and more. The vocabulary never gets any more complicated than cherry (as when Bub worries that Bitty has taken all the cherry chip cookies, only to find that Bitty has saved one), and Trasler is careful to keep sentences short and to the point. Even the simplest of sequences will maintain young readers’ visual interest with subtle details, like changes to the colored backgrounds during more leisurely paced sequences. The storytelling itself never gets too complex, either, as when Bitty and Bub argue that something in the sky is either a bird or plane (a question answered when Bub is eventually splattered with bird poop). Characters are drawn as simply as they speak, remaining colorful and emotional from beginning to end.

Reading comprehension gets a leg up with this charming new series.