The Most Incredible Picture Book

Title: Hopalong Jack and the Blue Bunnies
Author: Jeri Landers
Illustrator: Jeri Landers
Publisher and/or Distributor: Ochre Moon Press
Publisher Website: www.jerilanders.com
Pages: 36
ISBN: 0-9765303-0-9
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This gorgeously illustrated children’s picture book looks like something Beatrice Potter might have done, only better. The artwork is exquisite, using a combination of water colors and old/new world paper cutting. The story is cutely funny about a young rabbit, Hopalong Jack, who feels frustrated about having so many brothers and sisters (we all know rabbits don’t add; they multiply.) This is especially irksome because so many of them look up to Jack and copy everything he does to appear different from them (does this sound like a middle-school peer group?) When Hopalong Jack uses blueberries to dye his fur blue, all his fellow siblings follow suit. When his brothers and sisters begin copying his discovery of music and dance, he finally realizes being a trend setter is not such a bad thing.
Although written for a younger set, there are lessons here for slightly older children as well. The artwork is more intricate than a “Where’s Elmo” book. Reading this work requires repetitive study to extract all the nuances from its pages. We rated it a very high five hearts.