TOO MANY BUNNIES

Inventively using superimposed holes cut into sturdy card stock, Novak sends a quintet of dopey looking bunnies trotting one by one from their overcrowded burrow across the spread to an appealingly empty one, and then, when they’re too crowded once again, back to the old one—leaving trails of muddy paw prints for an increasingly irritated ladybug to clean up. The smiles on the faces of Chubby, Fuzzy, Floppy, Whiskers and Bob will draw like smiles from younger viewers, as will the circular plot, the subplot (the tidy bug finally packs up and leaves in a huff), the bright colors and the simple, repeating text. A natural lead in to the likes of “Five Little Ducks,” or “Ten in the Bed” and a novel approach to the classic idea of the grass being greener elsewhere. (Picture book. 3-5)