THE BUNNIES’ PICNIC

Evans’s bright springtime tale cheerily details a bunny family’s attempts to make a tasty stew. From stately hares with walking sticks to ebullient tots, the family sets out en masse to take advantage of their bountiful garden. In sprightly rhyming couplets, Evans describes their adventures harvesting and preparing the vegetables. However, calamity strikes when the stew is accidentally overturned by the smallest family members. Undeterred by the loss of their hard-wrought stew, the bunnies improvise an evening picnic instead. Young readers—no strangers to spills and mishaps—will readily identify with the young culprits and appreciate Evans’s gentle model of forgiveness and teamwork. Chorao’s lavishly detailed illustrations are typically in a refreshing blend of vernal hues; mint greens and lemon yellows provide eye-catching contrasts with the poppy pinks and vivid oranges of the girls’ dresses. The appealing mix of playful artwork and sing-song rhymes make this an ideal story to share with a preschool audience. (Picture book. 3-6)