rabbits

The Easter Egg

| Tasha

The Easter Egg by Jan Brett

Jan Brett turns her prodigious talents to an Easter story!

Hoppi the rabbit is now old enough to participate in the egg decorating competition.  Each year the rabbits decorate Easter eggs and the winning bunny got to help the Easter Rabbit hide the eggs.  But Hoppi needs a great idea for his egg, so he hops around to visit the other rabbits.  Each bunny is doing something unique and interesting and inspires Hoppi to try their technique.  As he visits, each rabbit offers him a scrap of material or a tool as well as ideas.  Hoppi tries to come up with the perfect idea, but is distracted by the distressed calls of some robins.  One of Mother Robin’s eggs fell out of the nest on onto the forest floor.  Hoppi knew just what he had to do and sat gently down on the egg with his warm fur.  Hoppi sat and sat and sat on the egg, unable to create an egg of his own for the Easter Rabbit.  But the Easter Rabbit knows just what makes the perfect egg for Easter!

Done in her signature style with one main image on a two-page spread and two smaller images on each side, this book celebrates Easter, spring, art and creativity.  It is also about self-sacrifice and giving to the community.  Brett has created a book that never becomes overly sweet.  A large part of this is her attention to minute details that make the rabbits realistic, the forest come alive, and the individual eggs masterpieces.  I also appreciate her use of wild plants and flowers as the framing for the illustrations.  Brett’s use of repetition as Hoppi travels the village of rabbits allows for a real surprise when Hoppi discovers Mother Robin and the egg. 

This book will work well with a group, though the tiny details are worth lingering over and discussing within a family or very small group of children.  Appropriate for ages 3-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin.

A Very Big Bunny

| Tasha

A Very Big Bunny by Marisabina Russo

Amelia is a very big bunny, the largest bunny in her class.  She stands out in a crowd, but wishes that she was a more normal size.  At recess, no one will play with her because she is too tall for jump rope, her feet are too big for hopscotch, and she is too heavy for the seesaw to work.  So she spends recess standing at the edge of the playground, listening to the wind and watching the clouds.  When Susannah joins their class, she is the smallest bunny.  The children won’t play with her at recess either because she is too low for jump rope, too small for hopscotch, and too light for the seesaw.  So Susannah tries to join Amelia at the fence, but Amelia rebuffs her.  Susannah though does not give up, and so Amelia slowly transforms into a big-hearted friend for a small bunny.  She also learns that it’s not that bad standing out from the crowd.

Amelia is a bunny that I can completely relate to.  I was always one of the tallest children in my class, too heavy for the seesaw.  And I too had to learn, just as all children do, that it’s OK to be different.  In fact, it’s downright essential!  Almost every child is different from the crowd in some way, Amelia’s difference is size, but she will be easily related to no matter what difference the reader may have.

Russo’s writing reads aloud wonderfully with its natural cadence.  The pacing is wonderful, especially when the friendship between the two girls is developing.  I really appreciated that it was slow and steady, making their friendship more real.  Russo’s gouache illustrations are filled with bright colors and capture with confidence and ease the differences of the bunnies without making it comical or extreme. 

Embrace your inner big bunny and stand out with this book!  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

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Milo Armadillo

| Tasha

Milo Armadillo by Jan Fearnley

Tallulah wants a pink fluffy rabbit for her birthday.  But it wasn’t easy to find a pink fluffy rabbit.  They could find other pink stuffed animals, but not a rabbit.  They could find rabbits, but not a pink one.  Then her grandmother had a great idea!  She would knit Tallulah one.  She started with pink fluffy yarn, when she ran out she added other colors, and in the end she had created something very different from a pink fluffy rabbit.  She had created Milo Armadillo.  Tallulah was disappointed, but got to know Milo.  When she got together with her friends, they all had pink fluffy rabbits along and Tallulah longed out loud for one too.  Milo heard her and tried to be more bunny-like but it didn’t work, so he left.  Will Tallulah realize the value of Milo before it’s too late and he’s gone forever?

Fearnley has created a book that is a delight to read.  Her illustrations and text work seamlessly together, both working to tell the complete story.  She tells a real story without being too wordy.  The pacing is nicely done with just enough humor to keep it moving in a sprightly way.  The pages where Grandma creates Milo are very funny and will have anyone who knits or has failed at knitting laughing aloud.  Fearnley’s illustrations are a brilliant combination of mixed media featuring cut paper, paint and fabrics that really support the story and offer a vibrant and creative look.

A book about individuality, creativity and favorite toys, this is a book that will speak to a lot of children.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Planet Esme and Young Readers.

Race You to Bed

| Tasha

Race You to Bed by Bob Shea

Shea returns with another silly, zany picture book.  Readers race to bed with a white, fluffy bunny as he runs uphill, drops downhill, makes lots of noise, and escapes a wide variety of traps and troubles.  Young readers will be laughing aloud at the manic rhymes, fast pace, and pure silliness of this book.  Perfect for children who don’t want to go to bed and would much rather be running around.  The ending is charming and provides the perfect button to the book. 

Shea excels here at writing verse that is strong, fast and funny.  It is also beautifully short which adds to the fast pace and will keep young listeners very happy.  Make sure that you keep control of the pace as you read, because the illustrations offer a lot of the humor and are worth slowing down for.  The illustrations are done in Shea’s trademark simplicity that has a great graphic quality to it.

Perfection for bedtime or pajama story times, this book is pure fun.  Race you to see who can read it next!  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Bunny Days

| Tasha

Bunny Days by Tao Nyeu

The author of the marvelous Wonder Bear returns with a picture book that once again features the big white Bear.  This book however takes a different approach than the loosely plotted first book. 

The book is in three chapters, each featuring an scrape the bunnies get into which is resolved by Bear.  In the first story, Mr. Goat is driving past the bunnies on his tractor and splashes them all with mud.  They head to Bear for help and he fixes everything by putting them all in the washing machine.  On delicate cycle of course.  Then they are hung to dry.  In the second story, Mrs. Goat is vacuuming and accidentally sucks the bunnies right out of their burrow.  Mrs. Goat takes her broken vacuum to Bear who discovers the bunnies inside.  He blows the dust off of the bunnies and repairs the vacuum too.  The final story has the bunnies playing hide-and-seek in a white flowered hedge while Mr. Goat is pruning it.  He accidentally cuts the tails off of the bunnies.  But no worries, Bear once again rescues the situation by carefully sewing the tails back on.

These stories are entirely silly and whimsical.  The solutions are sure to generate giggles as children will immediately realize how nonsensical they are.  Nyeu’s art has a strength and simplicity that adds to the appeal here.  His use of thick lines and a limited color palette work very well, especially the use of one dominant color for each story.

Ideal for toddlers, this book will have plenty of appeal with its fresh-feeling art and simple story lines.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

When the World Is Ready for Bed

| Tasha

When the World Is Ready for Bed by Gillian Shields, illustrated by Anna Currey

It’s bedtime and the entire world starts to get ready.  The little rabbits are called back to their cozy cottage.  The flowers close, night birds sing.  The evening routine starts.  There is warm soup for supper.  Toys have to be tidied up.  Time for talking about the day.  Then baths, teeth, and faces.  Stories, prayers, and hugs.  And one final glimpse of a bright star in the sky. 

This quiet bedtime story has the warmth and feel of a very traditional English tale like Peter Rabbit.  The story is told in short rhyming verses that add to the feeling of tradition and also to the feeling of a gentle nighttime routine.  Currey’s art reflects that same sense of timelessness and coziness.  From the soft cozy furniture to the toys strewn across the floor even after tidying up. 

This is a book to sink into, read again and again, and make part of your regular bedtime routine.  Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Maybelle, Bunny of the North

| Tasha

Maybelle, Bunny of the North by Keith Patterson

Maybelle is a little bunny who lives in Homer, Alaska.  The book follows her through some of the things she does there.  She does many things that most children do: plays in the snow, watches the night sky, plays in the park, takes a bath, and is read to at bedtime.  But some of the things she does are uniquely Alaskan: watching the float planes take off from the lake and looking for moose in the fireweed.  The book illustrations have a hand-painted feel to them and are filled with blue skies, red flowers, and the sheltering mountains.

This is a short, gentle story that allows small children to see that people who live in different parts of the world and even the US itself have both commonalities and differences.  It would be an interesting discussion to talk with children about what makes their area of the world unique.  What do they consider every day things that others may be surprised and delighted by? 

Patterson has created a story with a nice pacing.  It is firmly grounded in Homer, Alaska and it is a pleasure to read a picture book for very young children with such a strong sense of place.  The progression through the day will be very familiar to all children, and the surprises of the uniquely Alaskan moments will be enjoyed by all as well.

Appropriate for ages 2-4, this book is simple and satisfying.

A Small Surprise

| Tasha

A Small Surprise by Louise Yates.

A very small white rabbit heads to try to get a job with a circus of animals even though the advertisement says that they don’t want small animals.  The rabbit has trouble getting his clown nose on, can’t tie the clown shoes no matter how he tries, and can’t walk the length of the tightrope without stopping.  Even eating proves to be messy but when the rabbit gets into trouble, something incredible happens that just may keep it in the circus after all.

The illustrations here tell the bulk of the story.  The quizzical animals are large but not scary at all.  They help the small rabbit get dressed and root for the little one when walking the tightrope.  When the rabbit displays its talent, the book turns riotously funny complete with spitting.  I especially enjoy the giraffe who spends the entire book with a leafy twig hanging from her loopy tongue, watching everything unfold around her.  A book of few words, this book repeats the few it has for most of the book, saying “I am too small to…” again and again.  With such great illustrations, this is the perfect amount of text, offering up support for the pictures but allowing them to tell the real story.

With one large word in the entire book and lots of repetition, this one would be good for emergent readers but it is also perfect for sharing with groups of children who will love the sudden transformation of the small rabbit into a true clown and the laughter that that brings.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

This Little Bunny Can Bake

| Tasha

This Little Bunny Can Bake by Janet Stein

A group of animals begin their lessons at Chef George’s School of Dessertology.  The chef tries to start with more advanced concepts, but is forced to start with the very basics: pot, egg, stove, spoon.  The antics of the animals will have children in stitches.  Sharp-eyed children will notice that the pink bunny (the only animal in color) is hard at work and really cooking.  This is despite all of the noise, confusion and mess that the others are making.  By the end of the class, all of the animals have some sort of creation but none rival the cake of the pink bunny.

Stein has a flair for wordless humor with animals tossing eggs, weighing themselves instead of ingredients, cooking with shoes and socks as ingredients, and using pate as finger paints.  Her art is wonderfully busy, hectic but also clear and clean.  The ink drawings have a soft charcoal quality to them.  Each character has his or her own personality and approach to baking.  It is great fun to follow them from page to page until their baking is complete.  Each ends up with something that makes perfect sense.  The consistency and good humor of this title make it enjoyable to re-read too.

Great fun whether you enjoy baking or not.  This tasty book is appropriate for hungry 3-5 year olds.