Rodney's Inside Story

Barasch's winsome first picture book is an ambitious effort--a story within a story about two young rabbits. As Baby Gray is being tucked into bed, his mother reads him the story of Rodney Rabbit, a vegetable fancier who ``has tomatoes to juggle, a green pepper hula hoop to spin and a radish doll to hug.'' Sometimes Rodney reads a book about a rabbit named Baby Gray who shares with his family a passion for food--at a picnic, in fact, they assemble the same assortment of vegetables found in Rodney's room. Reading about the feast whets Rodney's appetite and, after devouring ``some beet cookies from his artichoke cookie jar,'' the story concludes with both bunnies snoozing in their respective beds. Barasch imbues this slight but sweet story with a quirky charm, though her rather flat watercolors feature characters who are virtually indistinguishable from one another. The common theme of the vegetables seems insufficient to draw the two tales together: little ones may well enjoy these bunnies, but children are apt to be as confused as they are entertained. Ages 2-6. (Aug.)