Book Review for Boar and Family Book(s) by Elijha B of Explore Authors Magazine
★★★★ Four Stars
REVIEW
Whether it is a puppy, or kitten, or even a child, little souls often find their way into the arms of those they know will care for them. In this charming book series by Cindy and Gus Gee, we follow the little soul of a stuffed animal, looking for her forever home in the arms of a couple in the Boar Family Series.
The story begins, as it rightfully should, in Boar.
Boar
We join our protagonist in a humble, non-descript pet food store where sitting among several dog chew toys, sat the only boar in the group of dog chew toys who happens to hear the wonderful sounds of laughter coming from two people.
The boar, wanting to be chosen by those two people, positions herself on the very edge of the rack to be the thing the two people would see so she could be taken to her new forever home. Her ploy is successful and she is taken to their home.
However, she was then given to their pet dog, Martha, to be her plush pal, to her distress. However, after being pressed upon multiple times, causing her to squeak, she was rescued by the two people, who then took her in and adopted her into their little family.
Boar’s Letter
In Boar’s Letter, we get to see the aftermath of Book One with Boar being fully integrated into her family. We see her trying on outfits and being distressed at the amount of pulling and tugging she has to go through with various clothing while being dressed by her mother until her father finds clothing that is a perfect fit.
Boar adores dressing like her father, including her favorite cloud pajamas, which her father has a matching pair that they both sleep in. We also see that she’s very peculiar about her name, wanting it to be spelled correctly.
We also see that due to Book One’s events of being Martha’s chew toy for a time, she isn’t particularly fond of when she sees Martha’s teeth when the dog performs a big yawn. But the biggest thing that we learn near the end of the second book is her full name, which is Neigh T. Boar, which is given to her when a letter addressed to “Neighbor” is delivered to their home.
The first two books in this series do a good job of laying the groundwork for our main protagonist’s personality. Right off the bat in the first book, we see that Boar is determined to get her forever home and her struggles to be seen as something more than a dog’s chew toy.
We also see that once she is officially adopted by the loving couple in the second book, she continues to carve out her own personality with her likes and dislikes. We will continue to see her mold her personality in Book Three, Boar’s Sister Junior.
Boar’s Sister Junior
In Boar’s Sister Junior, we are introduced to Junior, The Boar family’s newest member, and Boar’s adorable younger sister. During a trip that took Boar and her parents to a location that was reminiscent of a rainforest. After having lunch, with a Dad Joke sprinkled in, Boar and her mother are at a stuffed toy bin to purchase a souvenir of their trip when Boar happens to notice something moving within the bin.
Once the mother sticks her hand in, a small green stuffed gecko comes crawling up her arm. When her mother looks at the nametag that is attached to the stuffed gecko, they discover that the name on it is “Gus,” which also was the father’s name. Soon after, the family of three becomes a family of four, with the Gecko being named Gus Junior, or just Junior.
Thanks to being a gecko, Junior can scale heights that Boar and her family can’t reach, which Boar briefly exhibits envy over, but in time shows that she loves her sister’s ability. Along with her ability to defy gravity, Junior is not only a faster walker, but she is also a fast talker, which Boar had to train her to talk more slowly for everyone around her.
We also learn that while Boar tends to dress more conservatively like her father with a basic shirt and pants/shorts, Junior adores dresses with unicorns on them. However, the biggest thing that we learn in Book Three is that Junior looks up to her big sister, often shadowing or mimicking Boar, to the point of dressing like her.
The book concludes with Boar exhibiting displeasure at Junior clinging to her like glue. However, once her parents explained why Junior was acting this way, Boar understood and accepted her responsibility and came to accept Junior as her sister, showing her growth into becoming a big sister.
Junior is a delight to read and learn about through Boar’s eyes throughout Book Three and we also get further insight into Boar as a character, with her showing jealousy and frustration with her new and radically different younger sister. We also get a chance to see Boar come into her own as an older sister in teaching Junior how to move slower for her family and also her ingenuity by making signs for her sister to see to teach her as well.
This growth would come in handy in Book Four.
Boar’s Brother Hardy
In Boar’s Brother Hardy, we are introduced to the newest and oldest member of this new family. Book Four takes place a little while after Junior joined that family and somewhere during that time, Boar’s parents decide to adopt another child. While Boar and Junior stayed with their Aunt Trish, Boar’s parents visited a state fair, where the father won a carnival game.
As a prize, the mother chose a stuffed teddy bear wearing a dirty shirt. Feeling sorry for the teddy bear, the mother took it as a prize and named the bear “Hardy Bear.” Once they took the bear home and changed its clothing, the bear finally spoke to the parents, revealing its sentience, just as Boar and Junior had done before.
Book four does something a little bit different compared to the previous books where Boar and Junior were adopted. Unlike his sisters, Hardy immediately is shown having a hard time adjusting to his new his new family, from calling his parents “Ma and Pa” versus “Mom and Dad,” to hibernating in the Winter.
We also see Boar having a hard time accepting her new older brother as she feels Junior is enough. However, we do see that thanks to her time acclimating to Junior, Boar had an easier time adjusting to having another family member in Hardy and we do see that Hardy, in time, can acclimate to his new environment.
Another thing to note was Boar’s continued growth. After being with her family for some time, she can be upset with her parents and vice versa but she also has the capability to resolve the issues they would have and continue forward. We also see that Boar has continued to emulate her father by changing her hair to a mohawk and wearing glasses, similar to his, along with her mother setting up a little computer spot for her beside her father.
We also get a little more insight into the school that Boar mentioned that she and Junior go to. We learn that once Hardy joined them, he became the teacher’s helper due to being older than many of the children there but still goes to his lessons. It is at the end of the fourth book where it’s teased that in Book Five, Boar’s School, we will finally get to see where the school is located and how the three children found the school.
Boar’s School
In Boar’s School, we discover that Boar and her family live near their state capital where in December, a large Christmas tree is put on display. During a trip to the Christmas tree, Junior jumped on the Christmas tree and noticed a pair of apples moving beneath the tree skirt.
When Boar, Junior, Hardy, and their parents look beneath the tree skirt, they discover a large hole where they see Cappy, the creator of a secret school where special kids similar to Boar and her siblings who do not go to traditional schools, go to learn in peace.
It is there we meet Boar’s future classmates, Mac and Tosh, a pair of twin apples, Amber Leaf, who is a kind leaf unless she turns red, to which she becomes an angry leaf, a giraffe named Adam Apple, a salamander named Sara H. Salamander, a sock doll named Amy Doller, and a toy robot named Johnny Robinson.
After that, the parents decided to allow their children to go to Cappy School, where they take what is called ‘Cappy Tunnels.’ These are tunnels that Cappy uses to get each classmate to school and home safely.
Book Five introduced several new characters that are bound to become important in future additions to this series, with special mention going to Johnny and Sara, who become best friends with Boar and Junior respectively.
We also get more lore about the world that Boar and her family live in. We see that it is not just stuffed animals that can gain sentience, but also regular toys, a building in Cappy, and food, as in Mac and Tosh, as well as their being a school and a transportation for these sentient beings.
Overall
When this book series was brought to my attention, the only experience I’ve had with children’s books was my favorite childhood book, Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes. After reading all five books, I found myself enjoying the world that the authors crafted.
The hand-drawn that was done for all five books was charming and the characters were all very adorable. I found the storyline of Boar, Junior, and Hardy finding and being adopted into their forever homes after either never having a home or coming from a home of neglect, in Hardy’s case, very heartwarming.
The Boar Family Series is a very heartwarming, imaginative, and tender series that is a great addition to your children’s bookshelf and it earns a recommendation from me. ★★★★ – Elijah B. (Explore Authors Magazine)
FOR THE AUTHOR
Appearance: (Cover): ★★★★
Characterization: ★★★★ (Character development and growth. Are the characters interesting?)
Chapters: ★★★★★
Formatting: ★★★★★
Marketability: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★
Story Development: ★★★★
Sincerely,
Elijah B
Explore Authors Magazine