The Rabbit in the Garden — Dana Meachen Rau

PreS-Gr 1-Using a combination of rebuses and minimal texts, these easy readers take a quick look at the lifestyles of three common animals. Each opens with a picture glossary displaying a dozen or so color photos alongside the simple words they represent (e.g., a small color photo of a patch of grass represents the word grass; a shot of a frog stands for frog, etc.) and then outlines a typical day, night, or season, respectively, in the life of its subject animal. In each title, short sentences interspersed with rebuses describe the creature's habitat; a few distinctive physical and behavioral characteristics; a successful search for food; and (in the first two titles) an encounter with, and escape from, a predator. Robin highlights the activities of a pair of robins during the mating season (i.e., nest-building, egg-laying, and care of their young). A full-page, clear color photograph appears opposite each page of text. While all three titles are on the bland side, their use of rebuses and attractive, uncluttered formats will appeal to beginning readers.-Karey Wehner, formerly at San Francisco Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.