Small Bunny’s Blue Blanket

Newcomer Feeney has a firm grasp of the less-is-more nature of picture-book storytelling. Small Bunny has two dots for eyes, two long loopy ears, and a scribble for a tail. His Blue Blanket is an amorphous slip of cutout blue tissue paper, and their story is as tightly written as ad copy. “Don’t worry,” says Mommy as she puts Small Bunny’s beloved Blue Blanket into the washing machine, “it will only take a minute.” “It actually took 107,” Feeney observes. “And Small Bunny watched Blue Blanket for every single one.” After Blue Bunny sweats it out in front of the dryer, he spends the rest of the story working to rid Blue Blanket of its freshly laundered smell, lying on it and bringing it to the beach until “Blue Blanket was just the way it was before. Perfect.” Airy movement is supplied by the shapes Feeney gives the blanket as it billows in the wind, trails behind Small Bunny, and lies crumpled in the floor beneath him. A fine dramatization of the classic childhood blanket drama, and a noteworthy debut. Ages 1–4. (June)