In a world built for Perfect Pets, Barnabus is a Failed Project, half mouse, half elephant, kept out of sight until his dreams of freedom lead him and his misfit friends on a perilous adventure. A stunning children's book from New York Times bestselling creators The Fan Brothers, joined by their brother Devin Fan.
Deep underground beneath Perfect Pets, where children can buy genetically engineered "perfect" creatures, there is a secret lab. Barnabus and his friends live in this lab, but none of them is perfect. They are all Failed Projects. Barnabus has never been outside his tiny bell jar, yet he dreams of one day seeing the world above ground that his pal Pip the cockroach has told him about: a world with green hills and trees, and buildings that reach all the way to the sky, lit with their own stars. But Barnabus may have to reach the outside world sooner than he thought, because the Green Rubber Suits are about to recycle all Failed Projects . . . and Barnabus doesn't want to be made into a fluffier pet with bigger eyes. He just wants to be himself. So he decides it's time for him and the others to escape. With his little trunk and a lot of cooperation and courage, Barnabus sets out to find freedom -- and a place where he and his friends can finally be accepted for who they are.
This suspenseful, poignant and magical story about following your dreams and finding where you truly belong will draw readers into a surreal, lushly detailed world in which perfection really means being true to yourself and your friends.
WINNER
| 2022 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award
WINNER
| 2022 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award
WINNER
| 2022 Red Clover Award
WINNER
| 2021 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
WINNER
| 2021 Florida Sunshine State Young Reader's Award
NOMINEE
| 2022 Charter Oak Children's Book Award - Fiction
SHORTLIST
| 2021 Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable - Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award
SHORTLIST
| 2021 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
FINALIST
| 2021 Shining Willow Award
NOMINEE
| 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award
Terry Fan is one of the New York Times bestselling Fan Brothers whose picture books include The Barnabus Project, Barnaby Unboxed!, The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky. The Fan Brothers also illustrated the Chris Hadfield-penned picture book The Darkest Dark, Dashka Slater's The Antlered Ship, Beth Ferry's The Scarecrow and Beth Ferry's Growing Home. Recipients of the prestigious Sendak Fellowship, they have received a Governor General’s Literary Award and the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award from the Society of Illustrators, and were also shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal among other honors.
View titles by Terry Fan
ERIC FAN is one of the New York Times bestselling Fan Brothers whose picture books include The Barnabus Project, Barnaby Unboxed!, The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky. The Fan Brothers also illustrated the Chris Hadfield-penned picture book The Darkest Dark, Dashka Slater's The Antlered Ship, Beth Ferry's The Scarecrow and Beth Ferry's Growing Home. Recipients of the prestigious Sendak Fellowship, they have received a Governor General’s Literary Award and the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award from the Society of Illustrators, and were also shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal among other honors.
View titles by Eric Fan
In a world built for Perfect Pets, Barnabus is a Failed Project, half mouse, half elephant, kept out of sight until his dreams of freedom lead him and his misfit friends on a perilous adventure. A stunning children's book from New York Times bestselling creators The Fan Brothers, joined by their brother Devin Fan.
Deep underground beneath Perfect Pets, where children can buy genetically engineered "perfect" creatures, there is a secret lab. Barnabus and his friends live in this lab, but none of them is perfect. They are all Failed Projects. Barnabus has never been outside his tiny bell jar, yet he dreams of one day seeing the world above ground that his pal Pip the cockroach has told him about: a world with green hills and trees, and buildings that reach all the way to the sky, lit with their own stars. But Barnabus may have to reach the outside world sooner than he thought, because the Green Rubber Suits are about to recycle all Failed Projects . . . and Barnabus doesn't want to be made into a fluffier pet with bigger eyes. He just wants to be himself. So he decides it's time for him and the others to escape. With his little trunk and a lot of cooperation and courage, Barnabus sets out to find freedom -- and a place where he and his friends can finally be accepted for who they are.
This suspenseful, poignant and magical story about following your dreams and finding where you truly belong will draw readers into a surreal, lushly detailed world in which perfection really means being true to yourself and your friends.
Awards
WINNER
| 2022 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award
WINNER
| 2022 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award
WINNER
| 2022 Red Clover Award
WINNER
| 2021 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
WINNER
| 2021 Florida Sunshine State Young Reader's Award
NOMINEE
| 2022 Charter Oak Children's Book Award - Fiction
SHORTLIST
| 2021 Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable - Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award
SHORTLIST
| 2021 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
FINALIST
| 2021 Shining Willow Award
NOMINEE
| 2020 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award
Author
Terry Fan is one of the New York Times bestselling Fan Brothers whose picture books include The Barnabus Project, Barnaby Unboxed!, The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky. The Fan Brothers also illustrated the Chris Hadfield-penned picture book The Darkest Dark, Dashka Slater's The Antlered Ship, Beth Ferry's The Scarecrow and Beth Ferry's Growing Home. Recipients of the prestigious Sendak Fellowship, they have received a Governor General’s Literary Award and the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award from the Society of Illustrators, and were also shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal among other honors.
View titles by Terry Fan
ERIC FAN is one of the New York Times bestselling Fan Brothers whose picture books include The Barnabus Project, Barnaby Unboxed!, The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky. The Fan Brothers also illustrated the Chris Hadfield-penned picture book The Darkest Dark, Dashka Slater's The Antlered Ship, Beth Ferry's The Scarecrow and Beth Ferry's Growing Home. Recipients of the prestigious Sendak Fellowship, they have received a Governor General’s Literary Award and the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award from the Society of Illustrators, and were also shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal among other honors.
View titles by Eric Fan