YIPPEE! RABBIT

Ham’s popular character Rabbit—whose image graces everything from mugs to greeting cards—is now the star of a new picture book.

In the first sequence, Rabbit, seen in silhouette throughout, tries to fly a kite. A quick, “Rabbit go” accompanies a run up a hill, kite behind. “Yippee!” comes with a launch into the sky. Alas, “Rabbit stop” shows an outcome worthy of Charlie Brown: a tree tangling bunny and kite alike. Other sequences follow this pattern: attempt, fleeting success, denouement. Happily the pattern breaks when rabbit leaps off a chair into the stratosphere and never comes down again. “Rabbit, GO!” the text exclaims. Illustrated endpapers display a host of rabbits engaging in a wide range of activities, from seesawing to sliding. Using a limited palette and only the barest of bunny outlines, Ham still manages to imbue this lapin with a sense of personality and, most importantly, humor. This one is best for the youngest of readers; one hopes that after serving its time as a picture book, it will earn the right to appear in its most logical format: a board book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

More than just hoppy legs and sniffy little noses, this one is bound to win both hearts and minds.