Two White Rabbits by Jairo Buitrago (review)

“When we travel,” says the young narrator, “I count what I see.” As she and her father make what seem to be several attempts at a border crossing, they traverse a river, ride through a desert atop a freight train along with a multitude of other people, and bounce around in the back of a truck, while she counts other people and watches the clouds. When she meets a boy along her travels, he gives her a box with two white rabbits, which travel with the girl and her father—at least for a while. The matter-of-factness of the child narration is poignant as are the expressions and body language of the girl and her father; Dad is wary and becomes more rumpled and exhausted as their journey progresses, while the girl is often joyful and awed, if occasionally confused (“‘Where are we going?’ I ask sometimes, but no one answers”). Digital illustrations employ watercolor-type hues textures with black and self-colored crosshatching; intimate domestic scenes with dad and daughter contrast with the big sky above and desert behind. Subtle details (rusty spots on the train, the casual brutality of a soldier) add authenticity without cluttering the scenes. The non-literal implications of the dog who accompanies the pair and the rabbits eventually released into the desert might go over the heads of younger readers, but the picture of the father and daughter’s life in motion, stopping only because soldiers or circumstance interrupts their journey, is keenly delineated. A closing note from IBBY president and Groundwood publisher Patricia Aldana contextualizes the story and the problem of child refugees. Pair this with Tonatiuh’s Pancho Rabbit and the Coyotes (BCCB 7/13) to explore the realities and trials of the migrant experience.