Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Jaunty digital artwork by newcomer Bond introduces Mini Rabbit and Mother Rabbit as they set out to make a cake; they're compact, stylized black figures with slender snouts and enormous, unblinking eyes. As Mother Rabbit discovers that they're out of berries, Mini Rabbit's ears wilt. "I'll find berries," the little rabbit resolves. "Must have cake." Off the child dashes, a tiny figure wearing a red knapsack sprinting across long, horizontal panels that make note of the distance covered. Mini Rabbit chants while running through a meadow ("Cake! Cake! Cake!"), ears alone visible above long grass. Landscapes change and adult animals kindly check in, but nothing stops Mini Rabbit from rowing across the sea to a lighthouse, scaling a mountain in a blizzard, and rappelling from a precipice. After the young bunny finds a single berry in a dark cave, a wonderful smell beckons him homeward. Everybody knows someone like Mini Rabbit, who forges ahead with wild optimism, oblivious to the sinking likelihood of success, and Bond's debut wittily explores this attribute alongside the mismatch between Mini Rabbit's quotidian desire for pastry and his momentous, world-spanning trek. Ages 3--7. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Making a cake with Mother Rabbit only to discover theyre out of berries (No berries, no cake. No cake? No way!) leads a motivated Mini Rabbit on a berry-finding mission. If only Mini Rabbit had waited for Mother Rabbits helpful suggestion of where to lookbut then this book would have been much shorter and not nearly as entertaining. Different fonts for narration and dialogue add textual clarity, while refrains expressing Mini Rabbits determination (I can find berries) and one-track mind (Cake! Cake! Cake!) should appeal to young viewers. Throughout his varied, vibrant, textured art, Bond offers a plethora of visual jokes and intriguing details (including reappearing critters, nearly hidden creatures with expressive eyes, and the presence of berries on almost every page). While trekking through the forest, to the seaside, and up a snowy mountain, the protagonist rejects all assistance and advice: Dont you need your coat? Youre not lost, are you? Mini Rabbit realizes the latter questioner might be on to something only after finally finding a berry (in a slightly ominous-looking cave). But just then a delicious berry cake smell leads Mini Rabbit safely home to Mother Rabbit and, in a humorous twist, a new goal. With all the details to notice, repeated readings will likely enthusiastically be called foras will cake. Cynthia K. RitterJanuary/February 2020 p.67(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Mini Rabbit and Mother Rabbit are making cake, but they've run out of berries. "No berries, no cake." "No cake? No way!"With single-minded determination, Mini Rabbit sets out, clad in a striped shirt and equipped with a jaunty orange backpackand immediately fails to notice a bush full of berries growing just under their treehouse home. The movement-filled compositions show Mini Rabbit crossing fields and forests, arriving at a lighthouse, climbing a mountain in a snowstorm, and going over a cliff, where persistence is rewarded with one berry, all the while chanting, "Cake! Cake! Cake! I can find berries." Thinking the tot's lost, creatures all along the way offer to help, but Mini Rabbit politely declines their offers. It is only when the search leads deep into a cave that Mini Rabbit feels lostbackpack, berry, and big round eyes stand out clearly while black fur blends with the blackness of the cave. Just then, a smell beckons, "Caaaaake!" Retracing the route, Mini Rabbit makes it back home with that one berry, where Mother Rabbit greets her adventurer with a berry cake, of course! But as many a fickle youngster will, Mini Rabbit has moved on: "Can I have some ice cream? I LOVE ice cream."Charming and whimsicalsure to bring smiles to readers' faces. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
