THE MAGIC RABBIT

Ray the magician and his loyal rabbit assistant are inseparable. They watch TV together in the same armchair, paw and hand in the popcorn; sleep in the same bed (Bunny in Ray’s top hat); and, in Ray’s delightfully mumbo-jumbled workshop, Bunny even chews perfect little stars out of yellow paper that will fit inside the magician’s hollow wand. One Saturday, during a street performance, a juggling unicyclist crashes into Ray, and the juggler’s pesky pug chases Bunny down the street. Day turns to night, and Bunny is lost. (Observant readers will notice that Ray, spilling yellow stars everywhere, is never far away.) Fortunately, Bunny stumbles upon a discarded bag of popcorn in a dark alley . . . and a scattering of yellow stars! The rabbit follows the starry trail back to the subway, into his magic hat, onto the head (oops!) and into the arms of his dear companion. In the thoroughly charming, richly detailed, painstakingly cross-hatched ink-and-watercolor illustrations, all is black and white save for the telltale yellow stars. Hand-lettered text and artful compositions, often in cartoon-like panels, further contribute to the whimsical appeal of this winning debut. (Picture book. 4-8)

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