Everybunny Count!

October 15, 2017
A bevy of bunnies playing hide-and-seek encounters a surprise. Because they "like to play, / all together, every day," a fox and some bunnies opt to play hide-and-seek. Counting to 10, bunnies announce "ready or not, here we come," and "everybunny" counts "to one" badger. Two bunnies spy two birds and "everybunny" counts "to two." The hunt proceeds with three bunnies finding three squirrels, four bunnies finding four ladybugs, five bunnies finding five ducks, and six bunnies finding six frogs, each discovery punctuated by the command for "everybunny" to count to the next number. After seven bunnies pause for a carrot snack, eight bunnies overlook the fox hiding with eight snails, and nine sleepy bunnies in a line pass by nine sheep before all 10 bunnies finally find the fox. Exuberantly, "everybunny" counts "ten" as 10 surprises emerge from the fox's den. The cadenced, deceptively simple rhyming text repetitively prompts readers through the count from one to 10, while whimsical pencil-and-watercolor illustrations invite discerning eyes to count the bunnies and critters for each sequential number. Simple black outlines define bouncy bunnies that are humorously differentiated by color, spots, hats, glasses, slippers, bow ties, and tutus as occasional glimpses of the fox propel movement across the pages to a joyous visual climax. An utterly charming, beguiling counting book that engages on many levels. (Picture book. 3-6)

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January 15, 2018
Hide-and-seek turns into a counting game for readers as a group of rabbits—decked out in party hats, tutus, and bow ties—scour the woods for a fox, the new friend the rabbits made in 2017’s Everybunny Dance. Before they find him, they locate ever-larger groupings of other creatures as Sandall counts up to 10: “We found some birds, away they flew./ Everybunny count to two!/ We’ve spotted something in the tree./ Everybunny count to three!” The delicate pencil-and-paint illustrations bring an aura of genteel fun to the animals’ game, and the story concludes with a dance break (the foxtrot and bunny-hop, one assumes) and a request for another round of hide-and-seek. Sandall’s recurring use of the infectious “everybunny count” pun should lead to requests for another round of reading, too. Ages 4–8.