The bunny ballet

In this fanciful work from previous collaborators Ericson and MacKay (Too Early), two siblings portrayed with pale skin find themselves in a radiant forest where a troupe of rabbits invites them to a "grand dance hall." Seating themselves among a bunny audience decked out in colorful finery, the children raptly regard the ballet performers, dressed in doublets and breeches or flowing skirts: "Wondrous, whirling/ cottontails./ Across the stage/ they soar, they sail!" Intermission offers garden-fodder refreshments--"Lettuce Linzer?/ Carrot Cordial? 'Falfa Fizzer?"--followed by a second act, even more elaborate than the first, that culminates in an ecstatic grand finale featuring the entire long-eared corps de ballet filling the stage. Lighted and photographed images of painted and layered illustrations exude all the romanticism of classical ballet via animalian movements depicted with vivid grace. As the story's spell winds down into what seems like a fleeting wisp of memory ("By morning, all may/ blur with slumber./ Will you be left with/ only wonder?"), it remains clear that the effervescent work's love of dance is the real thing. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Sara Crowe, Sara Crowe Literary. Illustrator's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. (Nov.)

Two siblings attend a dreamy dance recital. The tale begins with a fantastical invitation; a magical evening awaits at the bunny ballet, and our protagonists--a pair of tan-skinned children--are eager to take in the show. Having happily followed some bunnies down a rabbit hole, the human duo watch rapt as cotton-tailed prima donnas pirouette and plie, the stage lush with verdant flora and the dancers awash in the stunning glow of a golden sunset. At intermission, the attendees are tempted by rabbit-approved refreshments--Radish Razzle and Carrot Cordial chief among the alliterative offerings--until it's time again for the lights to dim and Act 2 to begin. Bewhiskered ballerinas leap and bound, dazzling the cherubic children until curtain call, when they, too, retreat home for bed. Ericson's text is made up of tightly rhyming couplets, employing just enough ballet terminology to prompt knowing nods from aspiring dancers, while her soothing rhythm keeps tempo like the tide. Though select stylistic elements invoke the pastoral aesthetic of Little Golden Books of yore, MacKay's art is something special, a marriage of vintage and contemporary in its ethereal dreaminess and Technicolor detail. The result is an enchanting bedtime incantation, one that's light on narrative tension and rich in immersive loveliness. Encore-worthy.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.