MILO THE REALLY BIG BUNNY

This tale of a clumsy, oversized rabbit who comes through in the clutch is a flop from start to finish. Towering over his white, fluffy fellow rodents, misshapen, purple Milo can’t hop, burrow or even nibble properly. An enthusiastic tryout for Easter Bunny Assistant also ends in disaster—until a storm descends, and the Easter Bunny comes to the door, asking for help. Krensky’s laconic text leaves it to the brash, splashy illustrations to fill in details. But even uncritical readers will come away wondering just what it is about Milo’s hopping, or his heaps of exuberantly colored eggs, that doesn’t make the grade, or, for that matter, why the lifting and carrying that the Easter Bunny has him doing in the pictures should only be helpful in bad weather. For a clearer take on the same theme, there are any number of other choices. (Picture book. 6-8)