Hand in Hand

June 20, 2016
This is Wells’s version of a parenting manual, expressed as a string of entreaties from a small bunny to its mother, beginning at birth. “Be my teacher from day one,” Wells writes, as the baby bunny looks directly at readers with bright, beseeching eyes. “Be my sky, my moon, my sun.” The bunny and its calm, attentive mother share milestones as it grows—moments of caring and cuddling, and newfound competencies such as riding a bike. “Kindness is our daily bread;/ gentle words, our feather bed,” writes Wells, as the intimate mother-child focus broadens to highlight tender interactions with a third rabbit who could represent a friend or sibling. By story’s end, the mother’s job is done: her bunny is literally launched into the world, a confident sailor on life’s waves. Wells includes visual nods to Van Gogh’s Starry Night, the pointillists, and Rousseau’s jungle scenes, but this book is really about one thing alone: the idea that being a parent is the most important, wonderful job in the world. Ages 2–6. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

July 15, 2016
An ode to parenting, from child to mother, starring Wells' beloved bunnies.On the title page, a glowing mother bunny watches her new baby in a bassinet. Page by page, mom helps the infant grow in size and skill. The loving bond between parent and child also grows with the gently rhyming text. "Be my teacher from day one. // Be my sky, my moon, / my sun." The toddler could possibly be a gray cousin of baby Max from the treasured Max and Ruby series. Instead of bossy older sister Ruby, the mother rabbit wordlessly takes center stage, teaching the bunny how to talk and walk. She is his "first feeder" and "first reader," and she keeps him steady and strong. The spare text is from the toddler's point of view, with each sentiment the verbal equivalent of little arms reaching out for a hug. The large format brings the colorful and intimate pictures closer, enhanced by ribbonlike square borders. Vivid hues are combined to shade large areas, spreading positive energy throughout the book, even on the end pages and covers. The last image symbolically shows the youngster on a boat, sailing off into the wide, wide world. Thanks to Wells' experienced hand, this book is a fine gift for new parents. (Picture book. 2-6)

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August 1, 2016

PreS-Short, rhyming sentences, accompanied by large framed watercolor illustrations featuring Wells's signature rabbits on each page, pay tribute to all the ways a parent nurtures and teaches a child from birth onward. The young child narrator, whose gender is ambiguous, makes requests ("Be my teacher/from day one. Be my sky, my moon, /my sun") and enumerates all the things a mother does ("My first feeder./My first reader"). The illustrations, which include only a mother, elaborate on each brief statement by depicting the activities in which child and parent are engaged. For example, the picture above "Midnight staymate" contains a vaporizer, box of tissues, and medicine bottle-obvious indicators that the little one lying in bed embraced by Mom is ill. Small framed scenes on two opposite pages show the child learning to be polite, to share, and to help. The text, while brief, is filled with lovely metaphors such as "Kindness is our daily bread; gentle words, our feather bed" that would be difficult for very young children to understand. VERDICT This offering is a suitable gift for an expectant parent who might then use the object-filled endpapers as a vocabulary game after the little one arrives.-Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Greenwich, CT

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