All Together Now

Jeram goes back on location with the characters first introduced in Bunny My Honey for a dulcet sequel that relates how Mommy Rabbit and her little ""Honeys""--Bunny, Little Duckling and Miss Mouse--became a family. Played out to the refrain of their favorite song (""We're the little Honeys./ A little Honey is sweet./ Quack quack, squeak squeak,/ Thump your great big feet!""), the story line introduces each member of the trio as their verse and advent into the family is explained. ""Quack quack"" for instance, is Little Duckling's cue: ""Its special meaning is, I'm yellow and fluffy and good at splashing and sploshing."" A host of jolly antics follows, including the boisterous ""Thump-Your-Great-Big-Feet game."" If the territory here has been well-mapped elsewhere, Jeram's subtle emphasis on the idea that families are made, not born (""Even if I don't look like a bunny, Mommy Rabbit's still my mommy just the same"") gives the material a fresh spin. Lively language (""squirly-twirly,"" ""itchy-twitchy"") and gentle repetition stoke the read-aloud engine, and Jeram's watercolors are as pleasurable as ever. Ages 3-up. (Jan.)