Sky's surprise

Gr 1--3--The Bright Burrow Bounce-a-Lot Festival is right around the corner, and no one is more excited for the festivities than chipper bunnies Sky, Twinkle, Ruby, Petal, Star, and Diamond. Sky hopes to be chosen as one of the festival's lauded Bouncers and is disappointed when she is not. Despite her friends' best efforts to cheer her up, Sky ultimately manages to overcome her hurt feelings on her own and gets to be a commentator at the festival--a role much better suited to her talents. Aside from Ruby's overuse of the word "totally" and Sky's penchant for jokes and puns, not much distinguishes the characters from one another; all are persistently cheerful and relatively flat. What's more, while it may appeal to some young readers who enjoy magic or animals, the story itself feels a bit aimless at times, and despite the inclusion of invented words like "furbulous" and "burrow-tastic," the text is lackluster. Digital spot illustrations depict the bunnies in charming, sparkly-eyed wonder. VERDICT Serviceable where there is a strong need for upbeat, transitional chapter book series; otherwise, skip it.--Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Elkins Park, PA

Sky's friends try to cheer her up when she isn't chosen for a bounce festival in this rabbit fantasy.For weeks, joke-cracking Sky (a real punny bunny) has been practicing for Bright Burrow's big Bounce-a-Lot festival. She practices hard in order to be selected as a Bouncer so she can participate instead of just watching. When she doesn't make her class's team, she's beyond disappointed, disengaging from her jokes, friends, and activities she once enjoyed. The other bunnies try to cheer her up with various foods and attempt to persuade their teacher to let her on the team. What finally does the trick is surprising Sky with the role of commentator for the Bounce-a-Lot's final event, allowing her verbal talents to lend her a measure of participation. The positive messages of the book, such as supportive friendships, are disturbingly undercut by the bunnies' habit of complimenting one another through putting themselves down. The storyline is cluttered by numerous elements that are introduced but seem to have no payoff (or any real bearing on anything). The climax of the story, in which Sky decides to skip the festival, imperiling her yet-unknown commentator opportunity, introduces tension but is quickly resolved when she decides to attend after all, making it a moot moment. Boyd contributes grayscale cartoons (final art not seen). The series' second outing, Petal's Party, publishes simultaneously.Readers should hop on past this series opener. (Fantasy. 7-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.