[.ca] My Friend Rabbit (ISBN 159643080X)

Not to Worry Mouse I Have a Review:
This was in the nightly reading stack for weeks and returns frequently. The book is short on words and requires you to look at the details before the whole story unfolds. We have had fun as we notice different details the more we read this book. My little one is about to turn 3 and may be on the verge of outgrowing this book. I'll be a little sad when she does.

My Friend Rabbit:
I loved this book!!!! It is a wonderful book about true friendship. About the love that true friends have no matter what happens between them..... there is always love....and My Friend Rabbit shows that to all of us.

Grabs my toddlers imagination:
This book has very few words and relies on the excellent artwork to tell its story. And that is not a bad thing. My 18 month old adores this book and now he tries to tell the story by looking at the pictures. He weaves his hands about like an out of control plane and rests his palm somewhere up in the air. He pulls his shirt to show how the elephant was pulled and pushes his chest to show how the Rhino was pushed by the rabbit and he has suddenly fallen in love with crocodiles! Why only four stars? My son looks at me quizzically when we look at the final stack up - the order in which the animals were carried to the tree is different. I cannot come up with a good reason why it is so. Also, the story conclusion is somewhat hard for a child to follow. They dont have the concept of reaching up for something just beyond your grasp, flailing and falling.

Creative Page Layouts:
Eric Rohmann's book, "My Friend Rabbit," is about a mouse and a rabbit that are very good friends. Rabbit is the friend that is always getting into trouble, and mouse is the friend that always stands by Rabbit's side. In this story, Mouse lets Rabbit play with his new airplane, to which Rabbit gets the airplane stuck in a tree. Rabbit thinks he has the solution as he drags all the animals over to the tree and has them stand head to toe to reach the airplane. However, when the animals plunge to the ground, they are very unhappy with Rabbit. But, Mouse still loves Rabbit, and lets him fly away with him on his airplane. In the book, "My Friend Rabbit," Eric Rohmann uses hand colored relief prints for the illustrations. I love the bold colors Rohamann uses in the illustrations to portray a joyful and energetic plot. Beyond coloring, I love Eric Rohmann's use of line in this story. He uses dotted and loopy lines to let the reader follow the airplanes path. I think children will love following the lines of the airplane's path. I really enjoyed the use of line on the page with all the animals stacked up to reach the airplane. I think kids will enjoy turning the book to see how high the animals stretched up towards the tree.

Caldecott-worthy:
This book, as stated previously, is a true (and great!) picture book in every sense of the word. It ignites the children's vivid imaginations--that would otherwise be 'unimaginative' if it spelled every event out to them--by forcing them to ask questions and or tell the reader (us parents) what they think is going on. Lately books are full of words with minimal pictures, but not this one. Thank you Mr. Rohmann for creating an imaginative book with a wonderful message. Kudos!