HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

A small rabbit awakens to the sunlight of an ordinary day. He yawns, stretches, sets aside his teddy bunny, and gets dressed to go check his mailbox, where he finds a key. Birds in human clothing point the way to the lock that the key opens: “the gate that led through the garden to the great pink house.” The house looms palatial on the double-spread page, but its opened door is bunny-sized. It’s a dollhouse sort of great house presented in pastel-soft, cake-sweet illustrations. From there, the cunningly contrived white-ribbon path, on which appears minimal, large-type text, continues into “the magical room,” where animal toys and dolls dance, the small rabbit rides the rocking horse, the lion performs acrobatics, a monkey juggles, and the three little pigs squeal with delight at a cake with candles. Everyone sings the rabbit’s favorite song, “Happy Birthday to Me,” a sentiment echoed generically in the ultimate spread, which makes of this whole trip a handsome birthday card for the very youngest of celebrants. The magic here springs from a vision absolutely abandoned in fairy-cake fantasy, a complementary collaboration of dream-state text and the cuddliest of visuals. (Picture book. 3-5)