Small Bunny's blue blanket

Ah, blankies. Here the blanket lover is Small Bunny, who does everything with Blue Blanket. Then one day Mommy decides Blue Blanket needs a bath. Small Bunny begs to differ but, as is usually the case, Mommy wins. She tells him Blue Blanket is just like new. Small Bunny disagrees. But after some painting, reading, and playing, the blanket does start to feel and smell like itself again. The story of blankets and those who love them is well-trod territory, but this take on the theme has a sweet, effortless charm. What happens is predictable, but Feeney illustrates her story with the simplest of ink lines (highlighted with touches of pink and blue) on wide expanses of white paper. Blue Blanket is a swath of collage that sweeps and drags through the pages, but it is not even visible in the book's most poignant scene when it's inside the washer. In nine distinct squares, Small Bunny watches the blanket go round for 107 minutes. Never has a bunny's back and droopy ears been so expressive.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist

PreS-K-Small Bunny's blanket is his constant companion. It helps him soar on the swings, paint great pictures, and even read hard words. So when his mother announces that the blanket, along with its owner, needs a bath, Small Bunny understandably objects. Mommy prevails, however, and eventually returns Blue Blanket, washed, dried, and "good as new!" But new, according to Small Bunny, is definitely NOT good. Not to worry, though, because after hours of playing and painting and reading, it ends up "just the way it was before./Perfect." The blue motif is carried throughout, from the title script that swirls above Blue Blanket on the cover, to overlapping blue shapes on the endpapers, to the minimal text printed in blue. The childlike line drawings that appear on large expanses of white space are occasionally filled in with hints of pale blue in contrast to the darker hues emphasizing Blue Blanket's starring role on almost every page. There are humorous touches throughout, such as Small Bunny and Blanket hiding under the bed and a page of sequential drawings depicting the little fellow watching his blanket twirl in the washer. Pair this enjoyable story with Kim Lewis's Hooray for Harry (Candlewick, 2006), about another favorite blanket hung out to dry.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.