Duck! Rabbit!
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Website
No matter which way you look at it, it’s a duck…and a rabbit! A brilliant book that takes “seeing is believing” to a whole new level – it just depends on who you ask! ☺
Awards: Monarch Award 2012 Master List; Grand Canyon Reader Award 2012 Winner; Winner, 2011 Utah Beehive Award; Read at the 2010 White House Easter Egg Roll; 2010 Baker’s Dozen (13 best books for Family Literacy) by Pennsylvania Center for the Book; American Library Association Notable Children’s Book of 2010; Time Magazine Top Ten Children’s Book of 2009, #1; Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2009; Barnes & Noble Best Kids’ Books of 2009; 2009 iParenting Media Award Winner – Book Category; National Parenting Publications Awards 2009 – Gold Award; IndieBound Summer 2009 Top-10 Indie Next Kids’ Pick; Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, 2009 Best Book Award – Gold; Booklist 2009 Editors’ Choice; About.com’s Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2009; A Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Winner; A Scholastic Instructor Best Book of the Year
My Friend Rabbit
Author: Eric Rothmann
Illustrator: Eric Rothmann
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Attempting to get a toy plane out of a tree apparently requires a lot of ingenuity; in this case, precariously piling large animals on top of each other. And, while they get close, there is a lot of tumbling to the ground. My favorite children’s comment when it ends: “Oh yeigh, I knew that would happen.” ☺
Awards: Caldecott Medal, 2003; Parents’ Choice Recommended; An Oprah.com “Kids Reading List” Selection
Rabbityness
Author: Jo Empson
Illustrator: Jo Empson
Publisher: Child’s Play
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 8
Rabbityness is a terrific story about a rabbit that does, well, “rabbit” and not so “rabbity” things, like painting and music. His love for “un-rabbity” things is contagious and soon all the rabbits are joining in, that is, until he disappears. While sadness ensues, the rabbits soon learn that rabbit’s gifts will always be with them, inspiring them to bring the same joy and beauty to others that he brought to them. A gem.
Awards: 2013 Independent Publisher Book Award – Children’s Picture (Silver Medal Winner); Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards – Bronze for Best Illustrator; ‘The Independent’ Books of the Year – 2012: Children’s books aged under 9; Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize; Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal
The Magic Rabbit
Author: Annette LeBlanc Cate
Illustrator: Annette LeBlanc Cate
Publisher: Candlewick Press (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
The Magic Rabbit is a heartwarming story about a magician and his rabbit – business partners and best friends – who get separated one very busy day during a magic show. Illustrations, drawn in black and white (with a little bit of gold), provide the perfect backdrop for a lonely rabbit as he searches the city for his best friend. With few words, the author has written – and drawn – a beautiful story about the “magic” of friendship.
Awards: Book Sense Children’s Picks – Fall 2007; CCBC Choices 2008, Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; A Junior Library Guild Selection
The Rabbit Problem
Author: Emily Gravett
Illustrator: Emily Gravett
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Awards: USBBY Outstanding International Book; Kirkus Best Children’s Book