Noor and Bobby
by Praline Gay-Para (Author) Lauranne Quentric (Illustrator)
In a besieged city, Noor watches as his neighbors pack their bags and flee their homes--but a dog named Bobby is left behind. As Noor sets out across the ravaged city to save him, he discovers pockets of life and hope in this moving story of friendship in the face of adversity.
Then Noor goes off againto find his dearest friend.
"Bobby, Bobby, where are you?Bobby, Bobby, can I come, too?"
When Noor's canine friend Bobby disappears from their apartment building one afternoon, Noor sets off on a perilous journey to find him. Noor stumbles through abandoned buildings and navigates streets cluttered with downed planes, barbed wire, and items left behind by fleeing residents. While searching for Bobby, Noor comes across other animals in the rubble of the city in need of his help. He frees a bird tangled in barbed wire, builds a shelter for a cat and her kittens, and is finally reunited with his beloved Bobby.
Beautiful paper-cut collage illustrations highlight the realities of war as the brightness of Noor and his animal friends sharply contrasts with the desolate cityscape.
With its tender illustrations and animal-loving protagonist, Noor and Bobby is a compassionate and empathetic introduction to displacement and the realities of war and a heartwarming story of friendship from prolific French-Lebanese author Praline Gay-Para.
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Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
Gr 1-4--A story of love during great loss and destruction. Gay-Para and Quentric have created a delicate balance of the written word and muted illustrations to share a story of a young boy's grief of losing the life he once knew. Noor's family and a woman on the sixth floor are the last families left in his apartment building. His only friend is the woman's dog, whom Noor has secretly named Bobby. One day the woman also moves out of the apartment building, but she leaves Bobby behind. Bobby runs after his mistress and Noor runs after Bobby, and in doing so, Noor comes across animals that need his help in the rubble of ruined buildings. He continues his search until he finally finds Bobby, and when he does, he discovers that life can be beautiful in unexpected ways. Noor and Bobby are happily reunited. This book addresses children living in war-torn countries or other very difficult circumstances in a respectful way. VERDICT Gay-Para and Quentric provide an extraordinary outlet, giving voice to children and families in crisis and providing an opportunity to talk about it.--Laura Ellis
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Alyson Waters is a translator of French and francophone literary fiction, art history, and children's literature. She has been awarded an NEA translation grant, a PEN translation grant, two grants from the Centre national du livre, and was twice winner of the French-American Foundation Translation Prize, for Eric Chevillard's Prehistoric Times and for Jean Giono's A King Alone. Her translation of the children's book The Tiger Prince by Chen Jiang Hong was awarded the Prix Albertine Jeunesse in 2019. Her most recent translations are Jean-Patrick Manchette's No Room at the Morgue (NYRB), and with her daughter Margot Kerlidou, Claude Ponti's Blaze and the Castle Cake for Bertha Daye (Elsewhere Editions). She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
JUV002070 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Dogs
JUV075000 - Juvenile Fiction | War & Military
Picture books
Urban warfare
