Review: The Little Rabbit by Nicola Killen

THE LITTLE RABBIT

by Nicola Killen

Paula Wiseman Books

Picture Book

32 pages

ages 4 to 7

From beloved author/illustrator Nicola Killen comes an enchanting spring story about a magical friendship between a little girl and her stuffed rabbit who comes to life, lovingly told and illustrated in limited color with lovely foil and interactive die cut pages.

Ollie and her favorite friend bunny have been waiting for the rain to stop and spring to come, and at long last the sun arrives. Ollie puts on her rain boots, wraps bunny in a warm scarf, and the two set off for exploring. Then a sudden breeze whispers past and bunny’s nose twitches and their magical adventure begins…

The Little Rabbit is sure to enchant and charm young readers and is great for sharing with a friend.

MY TIDBITS

With imagination under the rabbit ears, this read hops into an exciting adventure and invites to dream.

Ollie and her toy bunny can't wait for the rain to stop, so they can play outside. When they venture out into the still wet and breezy world, something terrible happens. Bunny finds itself in a difficult predicament, one that Ollie's not sure she can save him from. But then, every good adventure stretches imagination to its limits.

The moment I picked up this book, I could tell it was done with care. Not only because of the fun story which truly invites to imaginative adventure, but also thanks to the extras in the pages. Little windows are cut out here and there to allow the reader a 'peek' through to the other page. Golden, metallic touches scattered between the pages give it a sense of quality and add a nice variety. The illustrations are mostly down in shades of grey and white, allowing the small dabs of color to accent in just the right places. The book simply invites young listeners to flip through the pages on their own after the story is read to them.

The tale itself is an adventure. Ollie is a cute girl who has an obvious loves for rabbits. She's even adorned in a rabbit costume. Her adventure outside illustrates her joy for simply playing in nature, an aspect especially important to remind kids of in these modern times. While the rabbit does find itself in a dangerous situation, its enough to jack the tension up high without crossing a border, which might scare more sensitive readers. After that, the story takes flight and lands into pure fantasy with twists which surpass logic and land into joyful fun.

It's a great read before bedtime and is a fun read.

And here she is...

Nicola Killen has always loved drawing and still likes nothing better than taking her sketchbook to the zoo to draw her favorite animals: rhinos and penguins. She designed cards before starting an MA in children's book illustration at Cambridge School of Art, and since then she has been working on her own books. Her most recent book is The Little Reindeer, which was called "entertaining... aperfect bedtime read" in a starred review by Kirkus Reviews and "magical" by Publishers Weekly. The Little Reindeer was named a Horn Book. Holiday High Note. Nicola Killen lives and works in Cambridge, England.