Happy Birthday, Bunny!
A little bunny asks plenty of questions on her birthday, and each time, she receives a rhyming answer, as in this opening exchange: “What are these and what are those? / Fancy shoes and party clothes.” The short lines of text read aloud well, and the page turns between questions and answers give children a chance to respond in their own ways. They will be guessing who is knocking at the door, what’s in the gift-wrapped box, or more abstractly, as the bunny’s elders look through an album or scrapbook, “What do you mean that time just flies?” (“You’re growing up before our eyes”). Created with pencil and ink washes, then digitally colored, the pleasing illustrations depict dressed animal characters celebrating in very human ways, with family, friends, food, music, and expressions of affection. This joyful introduction to birthdays focuses on a bunny who is old enough to articulate her questions but young enough to see the wonder of it all. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Carolyn Phelan