What a fun comic book with stunning illustrations! This story follows Sybil, a young girl, and Bolivar, a brontosaurus, who both live in New York City. I really enjoyed how no one noticed Bolivar because they were all too busy. Early readers (grades 2-4) will love this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Boom! Studios for providing this ARC.

Bolivar by Sean Rubin is one of the sweetest children’s books I’ve ever read!

Bolivar lives in New York City but everybody is too busy to notice that he is a dinosaur. This stunningly illustrated graphic novel is a mirror that shows us how inattentive we are to the people around us, and how easily one becomes isolated and goes unnoticed in the city.

When we talk about graphic novels, it’s the imagery that has the power to draw the reader into the story, and Bolivar excels in that respect. Sean Rubin portrays the background and the environment in a detailed manner; it took five years to illustrate this volume and the time and effort put into it totally pays off! Whether we are looking at a long shot of the city or a close up of a character, Rubin’s style is easily recognisable and his drawings are stunning.

Sybil is a young girl who notices much more than the New Yorkers in usual. She discovers that her neighbour is a dinosaur, and beside wishing to meet him herself, she wants the others to acknowledge his existence, too.

Bolivar is a dinosaur who is trying to find his way in the city. He likes books, music, going to the museum, and he always pays his rent and stays silent after 10 o’clock at night. He is the ideal citizen.

On the one hand, Bolivar is the story of isolation and loneliness, feelings often associated with life in the big city. Everyone is running around all day long: they have to get to work, do their chores, and they got so used to being surrounded by the crowd that they don’t even take notice of the people they pass in the streets. Individuals became invisible, they are not perceived as separate entities, only as parts of the whirling city. It is an impersonal space where inhabitants co-exist but do not connect.

On the other hand, this is also a story about introversion. Bolivar enjoys being alone, going to his favourite places by himself and returning to his apartment after the day. He does not seem to crave interaction and he seems to be uncomfortable with all the attention he suddently gets. As an introvert myself, I can deeply empathise with Bolivar: I like his quite, meaningful occupations, and I feel his nervousness as he is plunged into the centre of attention.

Sybil is totally unlike Bolivar, she is curious and open, a real extrovert. Giving up is a foreign notion to her, she keeps following the dinosaur, eager to get a picture of him and show to the world that he exists. It’s not only that she wants to prove that dinosaurs aren’t extinct, she also wishes to introduce Bolivar the individual to the world. She’s his key to being identified as a person. Thanks to Sybil, Bolivar gets the chance to prove that he is not only defined by his dinosaurness (is there even such a word?), he has a personality.


* I received a review copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review. *

Can I just first saw how much I love the concept of a chapter book graphic novel? It’s SUCH a good idea, and I’m sure it has existed before this moment, but this is the first one I’ve read, and I want more!

BOOM! Is already among my favorite publishers (if you are looking for not-kid comics, go read Giant Days RIGHT NOW. It’s such a delight), and I love this concept. “What would you do if your neighbor was a dinosaur?” It seems that at least one dino didn’t go extinct, and he lives in the apartment next door to our guide into this oblivious NYC that completely ignores the dinosaur among them. Sybil is probably the only person in New York who even knows her neighbor is a dinosaur, and she tries to convince people, but no one is having it.

I love that the reason this dinosaur exists in anonymity is because he lives in a city full of millions of people so preoccupied they don’t even notice him. There is a great mix of chapter book elements and graphic novel elements, which gives your young reader a chance to get a feel for both genres, enough longer text blocks to get comfy with the format of more mature books, but PLENTY of excellent artwork and comic(ish) panels that you’ll find in graphic novels, both those intended for children and adult readers.

Speaking of the art. It’s wonderful! It has this retro feel, and I love the brownstones and elements of the city. I love the dinosaur’s apartment and all the places he visits, unnoticed. I would recommend this for your kiddos, definitely, but if you’re looking for something cute with good art, you might just enjoy it, too! It’s been out for a minute, so you’re likely to be able to find a copy at your favorite bookstore or maybe even at your library. Don’t forget most systems let you suggest purchases if they don’t already have it.

The art was good, NY depiction was realistic, it was a funny and cute read. What else?!
Oh, yes. I'm 36 and I still can get emotional over a dinosaur story. Okkkk 😅

Thanks to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for this ARC.

I requested a DRC of this book from NetGalley and BOOM! Studios in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a story about a dinosaur that chose to live in New York because everyone there is too busy to notice he is a dinosaur. Sybil spends all her time trying to get adults to listen to her because she knows her neighbour is a dinosaur.

The story was fun, and the illustrations were great.

Five years of hard work has resulted in an incredible book that I hope will turn into a classics alongside "The Hungry Caterpillar" and 'Guess How Much I Love You." Illustrations can make or break a book and in this case they have elevated a great story into a fantastic one. I was astounded to learn that Sean Rubin not only wrote the story but also illustrated it. There is so much detail in each page of illustrations that I can imagine a child lingering over each page noticing the details that an adult might not. Equally there were tiny details in the scenes that would bring a smile to the face of locals ... "you only know this if you are from NYC."

The premise is that everyone is too busy to notice a real life dinosaur wandering the streets of New York.
Except of course Sybil, a girl who lives next door to Bolivar, the dinosaur who is not very skilled in the art of disguise. I suspect Sybil is right. Sometimes people are too busy to notice what is right in front of them especially when they have very important jobs in a very important city.

This elementary-grade graphic novel is a love letter to, and celebration of, four wonderful things: dinosaurs, New York City, curiosity, and kindness. It captures the city so well and its sense of being the most exciting and most anonymous place in the world at the same time. I've already ordered a print version for my kids - I want this book, and the concepts it champions, to be well loved by them.

"Bolivar" by Sean Rubin is a children's book about a child that is neighbor's with a dinosaur! No one in the neighborhood knows that the dinosaur lives there except for Sybil... but no one seems to want to listen to her. With the backdrop of New York City, the book describes the dinosaur's adventures through the museum, central park and more while Sybil tries to get proof of his existence. Our family really enjoyed the story and the artwork. This story would probably be better suited for kids that are slightly older that can read to themselves as it is a comic book format. One of the best parts of the story was that so many different types of people were illustrated throughout the book. It really highlighted the diversity found in New York and was nice that the end of the story found the two main characters as great friends.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I have to say I thought this was a picture book when I saw it on Netgalley. But no this is a gorgeous and hilarious graphic novel about a girl who finds out her neighbour is... a dinosaur. But will she be able to convince her mom and people at school she is not lying?

It all starts with suspicions.Sybil is the only one who thinks something is up with her neighbour, and we the reader already know what is up, her neighbour is a dinosaur. Yep, there is a dinosaur just going his way eating bologna sandwiches (with ridiculous amounts of bologna), reading newspapers, and having a lovely time. Sybil herself tries to keep watch on her neighbour, tries to find him, while I did think she went a bit too far (privacy anyone?) I could also understand why she did all the things. I know I may also have had a hard time containing my curiosity. :P We see her hold stakeouts (falling asleep), hide behind things, make photographs and photographs and more photographs (eventually filling an entire wall with Polaroids). All that to find out who her neighbour is.

I did think it was funny that Bolivar didn't even seem to realise at times he was a dinosaur, or that he cared.

While I do know that a lot of people don't really see what is happening in front of them as they are so wrapped up in their own lives, I wondered throughout the story why no one, with the exception of Sybil, saw the dinosaur. It did get a bit ridiculous and yes, it also pulled away from the fun a bit. Especially when the part at the townhall and museum happened. How did no one notice?????? Sybil has to do everything to make people see the dinosaur, though I was also already eager to warn her that this may end up in chaos. While your neighbour is a good dinosaur, a law-abiding, not-eating-humans, dinosaur... he was still a dinosaur and one that is generally seen as one that noms on humans.

I laughed at quite some parts, but the best one would be the part about the mayor.

The last part of the book had me both worried, a bit sad, but then at the last pages also very happy. That was a great ending and I am happy for not just Bolivar (the dinosaur) but also everyone around him.

The art is absolutely stunning, I just love the style, the amount of details. It really sucks you in the story and I loved seeing the city and Bolivar and Sybil travel through it. I want more of this artist, see what more they have made.

All in all, a sweet and hilarious read that I really loved (OK, still not a fan of the no one saw the dinosaur part, but that is really all) and which I would highly recommend.

This was a super cute picture book / graphic novel? (I'm not sure what to categorize it as.) I wish I had a dinosaur as my neighbor....

My boys loved this book. The illustrations are awesome and the story is magical and engaging. A young child discovers that a dinosaur is living next door. Sybil seems to be the only one who notices the dinosaur (who goes by the name of Bolivar). The two explore NYC together and Bolivar goes completely unnoticed.

This is a great book that encourages imagination and friendship. We love it!

Such a cute and heartwarming story about a little girl and a dinosaur! I thought it was really funny to have a book like this capture the busy essence of New York City with a story about a dinosaur that nobody notices because they are too busy! I would really recommend using this in the Primary School classroom and the Secondary School English Classroom, just because it doesn't have that much text and there is so much going on in the background that its a fun read!

What a really sweet book! The story was super cute, and the illustrations were really beautiful. It's most definitely for a much younger audience than myself, but it was still really enjoyable. I could definitely appreciate the art and the story itself. It was a really cute story about a the last dinosaur who lives in New York City and a little girl who is trying to get a picture of him for proof that she lives next to a dinosaur but nobody believes her. It takes you on a fun little ride where the dinosaur impersonates the mayor...which was my personal favorite part. I quite enjoyed this little tale.

I expected this to be a regular children's picture book. And it was... but it was also extremely long at 232 pages and many chapters! I can understand how it took 5 years to illustrate. What am amazing piece of art to have created.

Every page is filled with glorious illustrations. Such a beautiful art style, that really captured NYC and its boroughs. I loved all the details, especially the subway art. Along with being a charming read, this would be a really fun souvenir for anyone visiting the city.

Bolivar and Sybil are great characters, and the illustrations really capture their personalities. Most of the text is actually through conversation, rather than narration.

I love the idea that everybody is too busy with their own problems to notice that there is a dinosaur living alongside them.

A beautifully illustrated book that captures the busy lives we all have, the lack of imagination and the utter ignorance we all sometimes have when we don’t want to see the truth. It shows the story of a little girl, as well as the charming and well-mannered next-door neighbor - the dinosaur Bolivar. A lovely funny story!

O.K., I Get It Already

This is a 24 page picture book that's been turned into a 240 page graphic, chapter, picture book. The story is that a dinosaur, Bolivar, lives on the Upper West Side of New York City, but nobody notices he's a dinosaur because, well, you know, grown-ups don't notice things. The little girl next door, Sybil, notices Bolivar, but whenever she brings it up her rather grumpy mom dismisses the idea because, well, you know, adults ignore kids. That's pretty much it for the book, so we have to have the dinosaur be not-noticed over and over again, (in every conceivable City setting), and Sybil be frustrated over and over again when no one believes her.

The drawing is first rate, and captures the look and feel of New York City, (in a basic picture book fashion), with real style and flair. The characters as drawn are appealing as well. But from a story point of view the drawing mostly serves just to show the readers all the places where Bolivar isn't noticed and all the places where Sybil goes to try to get a photo of Bolivar. This ultimately becomes a gallery of New York street scenes. There are lots of little jokes and amusing details in the drawings, and the street scenes are lively and colorful, but that all just drives home how much this is a picture book rather than a story book.

I don't mean to be down on this book. Toward the end we do finally come around to a lesson about learning about "the other" and being kind and open to meeting new people and so on. And it's great to see genre bending graphic novel picture books with chapters and narrative text. But this is still an awful lot of book mostly about all the places in New York City to which you can go to not notice something, and if there's a lesson, or message, or metaphor there, well, that's nice but mostly incidental.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

A sweet combination of comic book and picture book, it tells the story of Bolivar, a non-scary Tyrannosaurus Rex-like dinosaur that lives on the house next to a young girl and her mother.

Nobody notices he is a dinosaur, because everyone is too busy with their own lives. Except the earlier mentioned young girl, Sybil. Of course nobody believes her, so she tries to snap a picture of her elusive neighbour.

It's a sweet little story, but above anything else, the book is a warm love letter to life in a big city, and to New York specifically. It's exactly the kind of book I would've loved as a child - illustrations filled to the brim with detail, perfectly depicting the chaos and liveliness of city life. It's a book I would've read again and again.

It's lovely.

I don’t read many children fiction but this one was a huge win for me. Directly on to my top 10 of all time, maybe even top 5. I just like everything about it. So well done. I would be very curious and interest to see other book for this author and illustrator!

Sybil is the only one who can spot the dinosaur, so the whole book is how no one else can see him, no matter how much she points him out.

But that isn't the point of the book, or rather that isn't the point of reading the book. The point of treading the book is the amazing pictures of New York city that we get to see in great detail.

For that, it gets four stars.

This is combination of a picture book and a graphic novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Bolivar was a dinosaur. He was the last dinosaur....

A cute story of a dinosaur who is hiding in plain site. In the city of New York no one even notices that a dinosaur is living nextdoor, no one except for a little girl named Sybil. I guess everyone was just too busy or preoccupied with other things. But once he is finally seen everyone goes a little crazy.

People fear what they dont know or dont understand. This is a cute story of acceptance and friendship. The illustrations are also beautifully done. I also loved how this combined a childrens graphic novel with a picture book. While the story isnt complex this book is a monster in size and may not be a good pick for some young readers. Overall its a very pleasant book.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.