Synopsis
One inquisitive hop, and splash! goes White Rabbit into a bucket of yellowpaint. Soon the little rabbit is jumping from bucket to bucket and learning all about colors and how they mix. Quivering with excitement, Brown Rabbit nudges open a square gift box and finds five balloons which take on all sorts of shapes. Gray Rabbit and Black-and-White Rabbit have their own adventures as they discover numbers and the alphabet. Toddlers will have fun and learn with these concept books, warmly illustrated with meticulous detail by Alan Baker.
Publishers Weekly
Each of these innovative concept books adds an extra dimension to the usual lessons about letters, colors, shapes and numbers. ABC , like so many other alphabet books, starts out with an apple, but then departs from the expected: the familiar fruit becomes the subject of Black and White Rabbit's painting in a wry and often very messy journey from A to Z. 1,2,3 combines a counting lesson with animal identification (and more art) as Gray Rabbit molds piles of colored clay into a variety of figures. In Shape , Brown Rabbit investigates the contents of a brightly wrapped package. White Rabbit, in Color , shows off the mixable properties of the primary colors when she immerses herself in three big tubs of paint. Sweet-natured humor infuses the clear, precise artwork, and Baker's talented bunnies are as winsome as can be. Ages 6 mos.-3 yrs. (Mar.)