's No Day in the Park! Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda

Hello?

Want to join me for a ski day?

But where's the snow? Could you please ((SHAKE)) the book?

From page one, this bunny takes charge, even though only the tip of his red scarf and skis are in sight on page right. He exhorts us to shake the snow right out of the clouds and onto the slopes.

Whoa! Too much snow.

Can you tap tap tap on the top of the book?

Okay. That leveled out that mound of snow, level being the operant word here. But skiing requires some slope.

Now maybe you can help me go downhill. Can you ((TILT)) the book to your right?

That's not exactly downhill. Maybe you could ((TILT)) the book a bit more?

CARROTS! What fun!

But this bossy bunny is not done with us, dear reader. He manages to ski himself over a cliff and to land tangled upside down in a tree (requiring reading the text upside down, and more shaking is in order to get him back on his downhill run.)

But... But ... Bunny! Look out for that hole!

Oh, WHEW! He straddled it. Perfect. Now off the ski jump!

LOOK OUT! There's another hole ahead!

AAAAAaaaaaGH!

It's down the rabbit hole for sure this time.

(Hey, hasn't that book already been written?)

Yes, but this is not it, in Claudia Rueda's latest, Bunny Slopes (Chronicle Books, 2016), and in this day of the metabook, we know what we must do to, er, advance the plot, as we say. In this day, post-Tullett's Press Here, we know we have to follow directions to do our part to get this little ski bunny safe and sound to his apres-ski happy ending, where down the second die-cut rabbit hole means he lands safe in the family burrow with a cozy cup of hot chocolate (and one for us, too) waiting from Mom. Author-illustrator Rueda captures just the right tone for her dictatorial snow bunny, and her sweet and snowy illustrations have plenty of of kid appeal, at least for that initial downhill run. A good book for that midwinter snow-time bookshelf.

Says Kirkus Reviews, "...her bunny is adorably expressive, her scenes are simple and easy to read, and that gutter cliff is a masterstroke of design."