Rabbit Magic

Magician Monsieur Lapin’s rabbit assistant, Houdini, keeps the rest of the rabbit troupe in line: he has “a knack for bringing the team together,” and he’s happy with his lot. So when Houdini grabs Monsieur Lapin’s top hat and wand one night and turns his boss into a rabbit, readers know that it’s an accident and not a power grab. With the spell seemingly irreversible, Houdini dutifully uses his powers to please fans: “The more daring his tricks became, the more the crowd loved him.” Monsieur Lapin, meanwhile, is demoted to assistant status. Houdini graduates to tricks involving padlocks and a shark tank before deciding that the life of a magician is too onerous. Wry understatement provides giggles (“Not everyone is a born performer,” writes newcomer McLaren, as Monsieur Lapin stumbles backward onstage, a terrified rabbit clinging to his nose), but it’s the prolonged investigation of the reversal of power that gives this tale the substance of a graphic novel. It’s like an update on “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”—one in which the apprentice succeeds. Ages 4–7. (Jan.)