Why So Sad, Brown Rabbit?

Why is Brown Rabbit so sad? Because he doesn't have a family. So he goes in search of a wife. But before he can find her, he meets up with three little ducklings. They think he's their mama, but Brown Rabbit is quite sure they are mistaken-or are they? Brown Rabbit wants to find a family, but is he ready for the family that finds him? Young children (and adults!) will delight in the message of this tender tale-families come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes.

Artist Kelly makes an assured debut with this British import featuring a bachelor bunny who longs for a family and inadvertently gets his wish. Brown Rabbit is droopy-eared over his plight: he must sit alone on the sidelines while the animal families enjoy their springtime frolic. After a brief, fruitless search for a wife, the rabbit discovers a trio of just-hatched ducklings. A poll of farmyard inhabitants fails to turn up the ducklings' mother: "What am I going to do?" Brown Rabbit asks his charges. "You're all alone like me." But when the orphans snuggle close, the rabbit's nurturing instincts are awakened; he soon embraces his role as a paterfamilias with gusto. With an economical but warm text, Cain (Look Out for the Big, Bad Fish?) keeps the story moving. She effectively conveys Brown Rabbit as a good-hearted if slightly prim gentleman (he says "Oh dear!" when perplexed and refers to his ducklings as "little fellows"). Combining a strong graphic sensibility with a confident ink line, Kelly's illustrations bubble with a sly wit and energy; the clean, almost decorative look of the characters and compositions is tempered with subtly textured colors of downy yellow, chestnut brown and cornflower blue. Here is an upbeat tale of a hare who makes a proud papa to a nontraditional family. Ages 3-7.
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