The Rabbit (Animal Lives)

From School Library Journal Grade 2-4-An exploration of the life cycles of two animals, told in story format. The lyrical narratives have somewhat sophisticated language, which makes these titles inaccessible to newly independent readers, and their British origin is evident as both books focus on the European species. While the lives of these creatures are basically the same, American readers may be misled by certain statements. For example, one of the frog's major predators listed is the hedgehog, which is not found in the U.S. The fact that the featured animals are European is only found in the fact pages at the back of the books, and young readers might end up with some erroneous information. Of the two, The Rabbit is slightly more successful because it is more general. Full-page, striking illustrations in muted colors accompany the texts.