A worthy tale, if not very well thought out nor the comic gold of Eric Rohmann’s similar, Caldecott-winning My Friend...
How will hungry Rabbit reach the apple hanging so far out of reach? With help from friends, of course!
Shuffling miserably through a barren, wintry landscape speckled with falling snow, Rabbit spots the bright red apple hanging from a leafless branch in truly mouthwatering splendor. His own efforts to reach it proving vain, off he goes to enlist aid from Mouse, then from an ill but amicable Fox. Neither alone nor stacked atop one another can they reach high enough until Bear joins them. Success at last, though Fox’s ill-timed sneeze causes all to tumble into the snow. Oral pays more attention to his theme than to finicky details: the animals divvy up the apple (how?) and eat their portions for dinner (a rather paltry meal, except maybe for Mouse, and a surprising choice for Fox, considering that two of his three companions are prey). They then repair to Bear’s den and fall together “into a deep, happy sleep”—right next to the apple’s intact, neatly shaved core. Analytical young readers will have questions about the internal logic here and will also note that as often as not in the illustrations the animals walk on their hind legs. No matter: cooperation toward a goal is always worth a shoutout, and sharing the resulting prize seems only fair.
A worthy tale, if not very well thought out nor the comic gold of Eric Rohmann’s similar, Caldecott-winning My Friend Rabbit. (2002). (Picture book. 6-8) . (2002)(Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-988-8240-00-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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BOOK REVIEW
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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