A Bunny in the Ballet

Désirée Rabbit lives in Paris and believes she was born to dance: “And though I had never heard of a bunny in the ballet, I wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stop me.” Like any good backstage story, the road is not easy: in ballet school Désirée is hazed by the imperious Madame Molotov and lands “in a tangled heap” when she attempts her first jump. But her determination and talent win over the human dancers, and when her big break comes during a performance of The Nutcracker, she delivers with élan. Debut author Beck’s lightly arch voice, fluid ink lines, and deft washes of color give the pages a breezy stylishness. But while Désirée starts out as recognizably rabbitlike, imaginatively rendered with just a few appropriately balletic, curvi-linear lines, Beck decides she needs a more human body to carry off the tendu devant and grand jeté, and she sprouts the long limbs and nipped-in torso of a classic ballerina. Readers are left with a character who resembles a tiny person wearing a bunny head. Ages 4–8. Agent: David Kuhn, Kuhn Projects. (Feb.)