Lawrence: The Bunny Who Wanted to Be Naked

Kousky (The Blue Songbird) takes an emotionally savvy look at a mother-child relationship that’s gone a little off the rails. None of the other animals wear clothes, including Lawrence’s mother. But “ever since Lawrence was a baby bunny, his mother has loved to dress him up.” Poor Lawrence lets loose one gripe (“Every other beast gets to go naked. Why can’t I?”), but all the getups, some handmade, are acts of love, and so Lawrence puts up with outfits that include “inflatable helium balloon pants,” which send him soaring over treetops upside down. The digitized watercolor and pencil fashion parade strikes just the right balance of inventiveness and awfulness; readers will simultaneously feel for the wearer while finding the broad array amusing. When Lawrence finally decides that “Mommy must be stopped,” his solution—ingenious, rascally, and still deeply empathic—will elicit knowing smiles. What kid can resist the opportunity to teach an adult a lesson, especially when the adult initially has no idea that she’s being taught, and everybody wins in the end? Ages 3–7. [em](Jan.) [/em]