Bunny’s Book Club

Bunny, a rabbit, has been eavesdropping on the local library’s outdoor story time and fallen in love with how books can spark an array of adventures: “As he listened, Bunny imagined himself climbing mountains... captaining a ship... ruling a kingdom.” But now that it’s sweater weather, and story time has moved indoors, what will Bunny do? The answer isn’t exactly legal (book return slots are intended for books, after all) and it gets a little out of hand (pretty soon Bunny’s friends all want in on his after-hours library excursions). But the librarian turns out to be forgiving where these trans-species bibliophiles are concerned, and since “All libraries have rules,” Bunny and his accomplices end up with their own library cards. Debut author Silvestro can sometimes be too literal and earnest (“He followed his nose to the adventure section”), but she makes the pleasures of reading abundantly clear. Mai-Wyss (The Passover Lamb) smartly divides the storytelling into small, telling moments, amplifying each vignette with a fine eye for detail and warmhearted humor. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Liza Voges, Eden Street Literary. (Feb.)