Little Rabbit and the Meanest Mother on Earth
Kindergarten-Grade 2—Little Rabbit wants to attend the circus, and his mother says that he can, but first he has to clean his totally trashed playroom. After a failed attempt, he sneaks away to join the circus. If he can sell 100 tickets to his new act featuring the Meanest Mother on Earth, the ringmaster will be happy to have him join. Little Rabbit easily sells the tickets after spinning a web of exaggeration extolling the traits of his "Mysterious Marvel of a Maternal Monstrosity." He touts her as having two heads with green teeth and enjoying punishing the small and innocent. When he lures his mother to the Big Top, the crowd turns on him due to his false advertising. The woman guarantees to show them something really terrifying—Little Rabbit's playroom. The crowd is awed by the "Emporium of Odiferous Oddities," and Mother instructs them to take a souvenir or two on the way out. Soon the room is tidy and Little Rabbit declares that next time he will simply do it himself. Using single and double pages, the artist populates this story with an array of animals, plenty of detail, and the perfect mix of colors. Children should relate to this circus tale, and parents will enjoy how the mother saves the day.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.