STUDIO

This picture-book debut by a children’s entertainer with a focus on literacy features a child-and-mother bunny pair touring a collective studio space.

The furry white youngster, sporting a pink-and-white–striped shirt and black skirt, eagerly follows the cat with the keys who guides them. Activities range from photography and dance to painting and singing. Some of the spaces, such as the ceramics room and recording studio, offer hands-on opportunities. Cheerful, busy silk-screened scenes are unified by a limited palette in the turquoise, coral, and yellow families. Black adds definition and contrast. An artistic ladybug awaits discovery in each spread. Rhyming verses (reminiscent of the author’s songs) are presented in a variety of voices: first- or third-person plural, first-person singular, second-person singular, etc., with two to four lines per page. While “the studio” is understood to be the book’s subject, the use of mixed viewpoints and short phrases occasionally muddles meaning and makes for some awkward textual transitions that are more noticeable than they might be in a song. For instance, after phrases that dwell on “a habitat for makers,” the turned page reads: “Perhaps an animator / Or an actor with a part. / No matter who, they’re free to do / Whatever’s in their hearts.” Ultimately, listeners will enjoy seeing the protagonist find a personal space for creation.

Despite textual issues, this window into process will be welcomed in the current maker environment.