Brilliant watercolors bounce off the page in this charming romp through the seasons. Happy yellows, pinks, greens, and blues pop against bright white backgrounds as readers follow a little brown bunny’s life over a year. The bunny lives near a garden that, aside from a nuisance of an old cat, is portrayed as a miniature Eden. She gorges on the summer harvest, hops among the fall pumpkins, and finds a bunny friend to hibernate with in the winter. So’s (The White Swan Express, p. 1397, etc.) minimal style and delicate hand create a lush environment while picturing just enough for the reader to focus on. Delicate dabs of pink and brown make a bunny’s face that actually seems to twitch and nibble on the page as a few soft brushstrokes of red and green create a juicy strawberry patch. Shulman’s (Countdown to Spring, 2002, etc.) sweet, maternal, though somewhat unimaginative, language lets the artwork have the spotlight, while providing a comforting, well-paced narrative. The content never becomes weighed down with its seasonal curriculum and the compact trim size fits the story’s light mood. To lighten moods even more, in the garden during the following spring “the brown bunny returned. The gray bunny came too. And guess what came with them? Their three new little bunnies!” In an increasingly complicated world, the simple joy projected here goes down easy. (Picture book. 2-5)
