TINY RABBIT'S BIG WISH

Like lots of children and lots of picture-book characters, tiny rabbit wants to be big. Very big.

The little brown bunny wants to be “as huge / as the forest / with legs as TALL / as trees / and eyes the size / of moons.” He describes other animals and natural structures of gigantic size, but despite his intense wishes, he remains small. As time passes, he does grow in stature (slightly), but after he focuses on wishing to be powerful like a gorilla, he does grow in an important way. His ears grow much longer, giving him the power to hear “every loud / or quiet / SOUND / in the forest.” Tiny rabbit can enjoy sounds both loud and soft, and he can notice the sounds of hungry lions and escape back to his rabbit den, “ENORMOUSLY / happy / to be smart and… / small.” Acrylic paintings of tiny rabbit’s environment are filled with jolly, smiling animals, although the huge lion does lick his lips in a slightly sinister way. The short text is integrated within the illustrations, with words indicating size set in different colors and varied types. Though the story isn’t particularly revolutionary, tiny rabbit is an appealing character with an imagination that outstrips his diminutive size.

Tiny Rabbit should be introduced to David Kirk’s Oh So Tiny Bunny (2013), which also successfully explores the same theme.