Out of a Jar

By Deborah Marcero 
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2022
Picture book, 40 pages, ages 3-7

Llewellyn the bunny is back with his jars, and this time he’s putting new things in them. It all starts when Llewellyn, who likes scary things but does not like to be scared, puts his fear away in a jar and locks it in the basement.

Fear (an inky black blob with tentacles) is soon joined by other inconvenient and uncomfortable emotions: sadness, excitement, anger, etc. (All are variously colored and individualized blobs.) But when Llewellyn tries to shut too many feelings away, the jars crraaack…

With empathetic illustrations and understanding text, Out of a Jar is about one bunny’s journey to accepting and feeling emotions.

This sequel to In a Jar is just as good as the first. Deborah Marcero picks up right where she left off – with beautifully sparse text and great character design. Her rendering of Llewellyn’s emotions is particularly clever. 

While In a Jar is a friendship story, Out of a Jar is more of a personal journey for Llewellyn. There are friendships in the book – I particularly appreciated the subplot with Llewellyn’s new best friend Max – but the main focus is Llewellyn and his struggle with big feelings. I love how Deborah Marcero deals with feelings in an approachable, non-preachy way. There is a lot of room for discussion, either as you read the book or at the end.

Another perfect book for storytime, quiet time, and (maybe) bedtime.

Out of a Jar by Deborah Marcero gets 5 stars from this reviewer.