Little Bunny, Spring Is Here! (Little Bunny #1)

Anticipating the arrival of spring, friends Little Bunny and Field Mouse go looking for it in this seasonal board book, along the way obliviously uncovering hints that it’s already arrived. Dialogue-driven storytelling follows the pair recruiting various critters to assist in their search (“Hello, Black Bear, have you seen spring?”/ “No, but I can help you look”). After a rainstorm causes the crew to shelter in a log, they emerge to discover an altered landscape, with lines shifting to short, rejoicing rhymes: “Birds sang.// Spring/ SPRANG!” Faint, fine markings texture Marcero’s illustrations, which support readers in uncovering spring’s arrival before the book’s protagonists do. The animal characters have distorted proportions and accessories—long, skinny ears and a scarf for Little Bunny—helping to lend the story an appealing air of whimsy appropriate to the season’s caprices. Ages up to 3. (Jan.)