The Adventures of %E2%80%A8Little Nutbrown Hare

McBratney returns with four stories starring Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare from the bestselling Guess How Much I Love You and its spin%C2%ADoffs. The tales are illustrated by Wagner and Tarbett in the style Anita Jeram used in earlier books, and are similarly straightforward and comforting. As adventures go, these are mild, though each shows the hares' personalities or relationship developing in subtle ways. The hares play hide-and-seek in the first story, in which Little gains confidence to overcome a minor fear. The possibility of danger in the hares' idyllic home pops up in the second and third stories, which show Little coming to realize that Big has his best interests in mind and beginning to learn how to watch out for himself and make smart decisions. The final tale has Little Nutbrown Hare keeping Big guessing about what his favorite place is and delighting in being able to stump the older hare. The artwork successfully captures the energy of and mutual affection between the hares in a quartet of stories that are as encouraging and quietly reassuring as ever. Ages 3%E2%80%93up. (Aug.)