The rabbits' rebellion

Argentine-Chilean-American novelist Dorfman's only children's book, which was written in the 1970s and published in the U.K. in 2001, makes its uncannily timed arrival on U.S. shores. After wolves conquer the land of the rabbits, their pompous leader proclaims himself King of the Wolves and decrees that rabbits have "ceased to exist," going so far as to eradicate them from literature. The deluded narcissist summons an elderly monkey photographer to record him flexing his muscles, frightening pigeons, and sitting atop his absurdly elevated throne. He orders them to be displayed "on every wall in the kingdom" and sent abroad, "so those silly foreign papers will stop attacking me." But when the photos are developed, rabbits are brazenly posing in the foreground, and the bewildered photographer is tasked with erasing their images. In prose that speaks volumes, Dorfman's eerily prescient allegorical gem shapes a resounding portrait of power abused and censorship foiled, reinforced by Riddell's (the Goth Girl series) droll, spot-on line drawings. A tale for the ages--and for all ages. Ages 7--up. (Nov.)

A narcissistic Wolf King insists that rabbits don't exist in this allegory.Originally published in England in 2001 and in North America for the first time with this edition, author/playwright/poet/essayist Dorfman's story speaks clearly today. The book's small trim and the abundant, adroit black-and-white illustrations throughout point to an audience of children. But the story, that of a ruthless, ignorant, vain Wolf King, who, after conquering the "land of the rabbits," announces that rabbits have ceased to exist (even though they haven't), works on a second level as well. On the surface, the story is amusing. Despite the King's insistence that there are no rabbits, the photographs that he has hired an elderly monkey photographer to take in order to record "each important act in my life" ("and all my actsare supremely important," he states) turn out to have rabbits peeking slyly from the margins. Even as the Wolf King goes to ever crueler lengths to assert his kingly authority and to have grander and tougher-appearing photos of himself circulated, the rabbits in the photos become more numerous and bolder. The exhausted monkey, bullied by the King's counsellor, tries vainly to erase all the rabbits. The adults in the story obey in fear, but the daughter of the elderly monkey speaks the truth about rabbits: "Everybody knows they exist."A wickedly funny allegory for today's post-truth era. (Fantasy. 4-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.