Magician’s rabbit Hocus Pocus is back in a new comic-book adventure by celebrated French-Canadian creators Sylvie Desrosiers and Rémy Simard. Though it is a sequel to 2011’s Hocus Pocus, young readers do not need to be familiar with the first book to enjoy the follow-up.

In this adventure, Mister Magic and Dog are about to take the train. While they wait, Hocus Pocus emerges from the magician’s hat and spies a purple stuffed rabbit. When a mother passes by pushing a wailing baby in a stroller, Hocus Pocus realizes the rabbit belongs to the baby and rushes to return it. However, mother and baby board the train, which chugs away before the rabbit and his stuffed counterpart can embark. Hocus Pocus is undeterred in his effort to return the toy to its owner, and readers will root
for the charming blue rabbit from the first page to the last.

As in the first instalment of this graphic-novel series for early readers, the computer-generated illustrations tell a gentle story (the book is almost completely wordless). The bright colour palette consists mainly of pastels: blues, greens, yellows, purples, and the occasional splash of pink. Red is used as an accent to mark dramatic occurrences. Characters and objects are boldly outlined in black, making important elements jump off the page. The result is a story that even the youngest readers will be able to follow.

This amusing adventure is perfect for children who are just starting to follow linear narratives. Here’s hoping we see more of Hocus Pocus and his friends in future volumes.