When a letter smuggled out of NAARF arrives at Runt Form, the family must gear up to help Tooth's cousin, Clovis, break out of her tiny cell. This gives the small and very fast bunny, Beatrice, a chance to do a little burgling. Then a mysterious package arrives at the barn door and Cletus finds himself in a pickle with Tooth. As the Runt Farmers recover from one catastrophe only to face an even bigger one, every critter in the crowd must call upon bravery, ingenuity, and luck!I received this book from Author Marketing Experts through LibraryThing.com for review. I was really excited to get this book because I don't think that the general public recognizes enough the importance of children's literature. Every day a boy or girl's mind could be inspired to be even greater, if someone would just recommend to them a good book. I am firm believer that whatever you're reading, it's doing you good.
But to get back to the book up for review, Clovis Escapes is the third book in Amanda Lorenzo's Runt Farm series for 4-8 year olds. Focusing on a rag tag family of all types of animals, the reader gets to experience the excitement and action of learning to survive outside the clutches of a scientific research institute. Reminiscent of The Rats of NIMH, Lorenzo does a good job of creating cute, fun, young animals who have to find their courage to get through a variety of tough circumstances. The illustrations by Mark Evan Walker are just darling - who's going to forget Beatrice (the bunny rabbit) screwing up her face and throwing a few practice kung fu moves to show how able she is?
The only thing that threw me off were I feel some too adult themes for the age group. Lorenzo seems to be alluding to Clovis having depression after her rescue, and in the same story Beatrice refers to her as having 'a rexia': anorexia. I understand the concept of using books to introduce adult ideas in a kid-friendly setting, but I kind of feel that it was unnecessary to the story and in fact removed me from what I was reading. I'd just recommend that parents keep that in mind because whether your child is reading it by themselves or you're reading it with them, they're going to have questions.
Overall Feeling -Thumbs up. A cute kids story, in spite of some more adult ideas; I can see kids loving these courageous and personable little animals.
Series - 1) Under New Management 2) Beatrice and Blossom 3) Clovis Escapes
