Otto Carrotto

In a story first published in Austria in 2000, Otto the rabbit resolves to eat carrots with the same single-minded passion he sees his friends devoting to their favorite shoes and roller skates. After a period of intense carrot consumption ("Raw carrots, cooked carrots, fried carrots, baked carrots. He eats carrot soup, carrot pizza, carrot cookies, and, of course, carrot cake"), Otto's fellow rabbits taunt him and even try to nibble at him after his ears turn into carrots. A quick switch to spinach solves the immediate problem, and turns Otto into a spinach superhero, with a Superman cape and a pipe like Popeye's. The story ends there, though, leaving readers to wonder whether eating bales of spinach is any better than overindulging in carrots. Newcomer Carrer's multimedia illustrations are the real draw. Otto and his friends cavort against backgrounds of painted newspaper and picture cutouts. Many small panel illustrations entertain (Otto flies in a carrot rocket and paddles a carrot boat), while scribbled lines and scumbled paint add texture and movement. For Carrer, art may be a better vehicle for storytelling than words. Ages 4%E2%80%938. (Aug.)