Little Bunny, Big Germs

In this simple rhyming fable, Wells offers the cautionary tale of P.J. Finnegan Bunny, a five-and-a-half-year-old gray rabbit who abhors handwashing. When the young bunny catches a cold, fails to wash his hands, leaves tissues around, and sneezes without covering his face, he’s sent home from school, and his mother nurses him back to health. Once back, the class is chastened into good hygiene habits: “Among other issues,/ we’ll pick up our tissues!/ Twenty seconds of hand washing, please.” Wells’s signature anthropomorphic bunnies are featured in full dress, learning to help keep their community healthy, but “wiggling, squiggling” germs, portrayed in intricate close-ups, remain largely unexplained. An approachable, basic conversation starter on hygiene for the youngest readers. Back matter includes “Hygiene for Everybunny.” Ages 2–6. (Mar.)