Review by New York Times Review
Intricately colored spreads, in watercolor and gouache, follow a dizzying variety of rabbits as they prepare for Easter morning: each craftsman seems to have a different wood-carving, chocolate-making or painting specialty, as they all labor to make the "winning egg." A young rabbit is a bit discouraged by all this industry, until he finds a light blue egg that will make the day special in its own way. Hidden details in the busy scenes invite close study, like a framing device of pussy willows that suddenly blossom into a dozen more floppy-eared bunnies, who hop away. SOJOURNER TRUTH'S STEP-STOMP STRIDE By Andrea Davis Pinkney. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Disney-Jump at the Sun. $16.99. (Ages 5 to 9) In her own "Narrative," Sojourner Truth described her "peculiar gait" - she was usually on a mission and didn't have time to waste. Her six-foot frame, passion for justice and "stepstomp stride" all come across in this swirling picture book, which takes us from her childhood as a slave in New York State around 1800 to her later career as a lecturer and abolitionist. Both her eloquence and lectern-pounding delivery ("Bam!") brought her renown. A GIFT FROM CHILDHOOD Memories of an African Boyhood. Written and illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite. Groundwood/House of Anansi. $18.95. (Ages 10 and up) In the West African country of Mali, Diakite, an artist and storyteller, was left to be raised by his paternal grandparents in their tiny village - a family tradition. He would later use his experiences as material for stark and colorful stories, paintings and earthenware tiles, some of which decorate this memoir. He vividly describes learning such skills from his grandmother as how to wrestle a catfish and identify herhs and plants for every use. 1001 CHILDREN'S BOOKS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP Edited by Julia Eccleshare. Universe. $36.95. (All Ages) This stimulating guide - international in scope - includes many books you'll be grateful to discover or revisit and many more that have been all but forgotten. Beautiful color reproductions are particularly helpful in the picture book sections, while the thoughtful summaries of books for older children like Wilson Rawls's "Where the Red Fern Grows" (1961) and William Pène Du Bois's "Twenty-One Balloons" (1947) - involving "travel, science fiction and adventure" - make you want to go hunt them down in library or bookstore. BUNNY DAYS Written and illustrated by Tao Nyeu. Dial/Penguin. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 5) Nyeu ("Wonder Bear") has a crisp palette but a whimsical imagination when it comes to cute animals. In richly colored silk-screened inks, three vignettes about baby bunnies getting into all kinds of trouble are amusing - if perhaps also a little odd, as they involve uncomfortable-looking mishaps in which the bunnies are put through the washing machine or need their tails sewn back on. No matter: the book's greens, oranges and sky blues are sunny, and look like spring. SUGAR PLUM BALLERINAS: Perfectly Prima. By Whoopi Goldberg with Deborah Underwood. Illustrated by Maryn Roos. Disney-Jump at the Sun. $16.99. (Ages 6 to 10) You have to love Jerzey Mae. In this gently humorous series about the would-be ballerinas of the Nutcracker School of Ballet, she's the determined, if klutzy, dancer who spends too much time neatly lining up her pencils and worrying: "I don't have fun a lot." Here, with the help of her little brother, a basketball and a prima ballerina, she learns how to dance and have fun at the same time. JULIE JUST
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [March 14, 2010]
Review by Booklist Review
Hoppi, a small but industrious bunny, takes a tour of the woods and sees how other rabbits are preparing fancily decorated eggs in the hopes of being chosen to assist the official Easter Rabbit. He collects ideas, tools, and accoutrements from the artistic and obviously older bunnies, including flowers, paints, wood to carve, and chocolate. As soon as he decides that he will need to limit his own production to match his capabilities, he suddenly becomes the foster parent to a fallen robin's egg. Brett's large watercolors include a few visual puns (one rabbit is painting a silhouette of Lewis Carroll's March Hare on an egg, for instance) and lots of woodland detail. The story of the robins and their fallen egg unfolds in the top border of the page spreads. A satisfying, gentle tale whose text and images can be enjoyed multiple times over.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brett's finely detailed watercolor and gouache art is a showstopper, spotlighting lifelike-though nattily clad-rabbits decorating eggs in hopes of winning the role of the Easter Rabbit's helper. Hoppi is awed by bunnies' creations, which include an ornate chocolate egg and a "whirling, twirling mechanical egg." But when an egg tumbles out of a robin's nest, he keeps it safe until the baby bird hatches. Borders of twigs, pussy willows, daffodils, and ferns add greatly to the warm, visually sumptuous setting of this gentle spring story. Ages 3-5. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Bunnies decorate eggs, hoping to be named the Easter Bunny's helper. Hoppi is distracted from the competition when a robin's egg falls from its nest, but his valiant caregiving pays off. Delicate and detailed, the richly hued illustrations evoke the beauty of this springtime holiday. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hoppi the bunny hopes to win the egg-decorating contest and assist the Easter Rabbit on Easter. But Mother Robin's egg falls out of her nest, so Hoppi sacrifices his dream to rescue and protect it. It's Hoppi's act of kindness, however, that earns him the honor of helping the Easter Rabbit. Brett's saccharine text is well matched by her meticulous, almost overwhelming illustrations. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Brett is in rare visual form in this tale of a bunny who hopes to win a prized opportunity to help the Easter Rabbit. Little Hoppi goes through his community seeking ideas for the winning decorated egg. The other bunnies, each of a different breed and elaborately costumed, are hard at work, but they give Hoppi some items that might help him. As he ponders the task, an egg tumbles out of Mother Robin's nestso, Horton-like, he decides to protect it until it hatches, with completely predictable results. But if the story is a little lackluster, the sumptuous illustrations more than make up for it. Bordered in pussy-willow twigs (which sport their own surprise), each spread offers the illustrator's patented triptych construction, with panels detailing other bunnies' activities flanking an elaborate tableau. Luscious. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
