My Very Own Space

In the midst of a crowd of dancing, singing, instrument-playing rabbits, another rabbit just wants a quiet place to read. He wears a cuddly red turtleneck, but he’s not a cuddly type: “Oi! All of you! Go away and play somewhere else! This is my space!” He draws a red line around himself. “Nothing is allowed over this line,” he writes in red letters. But when he finishes his book and emerges from its spell, the crowd he shooed away is off having fun without him. Suddenly he’s very much alone—until a small rabbit, a sibling perhaps, softens his mood with a wisp of magic. Goodhart (Little Nelly’s Big Book) affectionately explores the way children handle seesawing emotions and competing desires for privacy and companionship. Debut illustrator Crane’s noisy rabbits aren’t just filling space; each has a distinctive shape, props (pirate costume, trumpet, skateboard), and a winning expression. As a bonus, readers get a peek inside Space Bunny, the story that has so engrossed Goodhart’s main character, in which a rabbit astronaut wins over a group of green, three-eyed alien bunnies. Ages 3–5. (July)

This review has been corrected to fix a misspelling in the author's name. It is "Goodhart," not "Goodheart."