From Publishers Weekly
Posey sets a contemplative mood in her debut children's book. It's summertime, and Elizabeth and her father are at their cabin. The lawn is her father's pride and joy, and he labors over it for hours, but rabbits are eating the grass at night. Elizabeth loves the rabbits, especially when they leap "soft as shyness" when it's too hot to sleep. Worried that her father will banish them, she devises a plan to keep peace, leaving lettuce for the furry visitors to eat and pitching in to help with the lawn chores. Posey's languid pace feels like an expression of her tranquil setting, and she depicts both the bond between father and daughter and Elizabeth's resourceful solution realistically. She also displays a knack for descriptionArabbits are "quick as moonbeams," morning is "soft and gray, a picture waiting for the colors to be painted in." Montgomery's (Little Red Riding Hood/The Wolf's Tale) expansive paintings favor the subdued but auspicious lighting of early summer evenings, when time feels distended. His interiors are spare, and details of outdoor vistas are carefully selectedAa few stars twinkling above the trees; a pair of dragonflies hovering over the pond; gracefully balanced pine branches framing a view of the yard. Through these well-edited compositions he sustains the story's unhurried, summertime mood. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-Elizabeth discovers that conflicts with parents can often be resolved more easily than one might think. The child loves to watch the rabbits dance on the lawn on summer evenings, but she is worried that her father will be angry when he discovers that the creatures are eating the grass that he has labored over so long and hard. Perhaps he'll say that the animals must go. She tries offering them an alternative-lettuce-but when her father notices what she is doing, he kindly suggests that the rabbits might still prefer the grass. To her great relief, he is not angry and together they work out a solution. They'll share the lawn work and let the rabbits stay. This is obviously a family that likes order. The large, formal oil paintings show their perfect lawn, their orderly house, and Elizabeth's quiet demeanor. It is a relief to see the tension fade from her face and to see her become playful in the later scenes. This very gentle problem-solving story may be a relief to those who are made uncomfortable by the more strident voices and acting-out behavior shown in titles such as David Shannon's No, David! (Scholastic, 1998) and Jules Feiffer's I Lost My Bear (Morrow, 1998).
Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VT Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
