Lobel, no stranger to gardening—or concept books—serves up a feast once again.
It’s dinnertime, and Mama Rabbit doesn’t have anything to put in her soup pot. Ten little rabbits whine, “We are very, very, VERY HUNGRY!” Papa Rabbit suggests they hop to the garden to find good things to eat. Each rabbit brings back a fruit or vegetable (or fungus) for the pot, counting from one to 10. Each rabbit also chooses a particular color of food, appropriately matching his or her brightly patterned frock. The scrumptious garden finds are boldly placed front and center, perfect for tiny fingers to point and count. Vignettes across the bottom show the rabbits digging and gathering. Besides the obvious rabbit-in-the-garden connection, Lobel’s leafy borders and beady-eyed bunnies are reminiscent of Beatrix Potter. Never one to miss a detail, Lobel delicately shades the whisper-thin onion skins and every bump on the potato and also carefully lines up 12 little bowls in the background cupboard (assuring Mama and Papa are accounted for, of course). With gardens cropping up in schools and farmers’ markets on every corner, these hungry bunnies are teaching more than just numbers and colors.
Good, basic food to feed the youngest of minds. (Picture book. 2-5)
