TOO MANY RABBITS

A two-for-the-price-of-one sale at the pet store challenges a resourceful family to cope with the inevitable consequences.

Hardly have Owen, Zoey, and their dad had time to feel amazed before their two new rabbits have turned into 210, nibbling on the furniture and leaving “little chocolate eggs” all over. It’s time for a grand, if occasionally ruthless, giveaway—but after leaving one with a passing juggler, slipping two into an unsuspecting neighbor’s mail slot, dropping three into the instrument case of a distracted street musician, and so on up to tying the last 20 to balloons, the children are dismayed to discover that there are none left. And so it’s back to the pet store…just in time to take advantage of a two-for-one sale on ferrets! Aside from looking for a message, if any, buried in the silliness, the chief fun of this Italian import will be counting the orange bunnies in Benetti’s duotone illustrations—they’re all there, each individually drawn and engaged, singly or in bunches, in tomfoolery. Human figures, rendered in grayscale, are mostly light-skinned, but there are also a few who are darker-complexioned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A delightful domestic debacle with pictures to pore over and many bunnies to count.