The title refers not to a recipe that culminates in consuming rabbits (horrors!) but rather to a mother rabbit's playful approach to bedtime. Ives (Mrs. Santa Claus
) cooks up some gentle domestic humor from the interplay between the "recipe" that serves as the text and the cozily comic action featured on butter-toned pages. "First, gather together/ your ingredients./ 1 game of hide-and-seek/ 1 bath/ 6 pairs of pajamas," etc. Next, the chef must "find six small rabbits.../ if you can!," which prompts the bunnies' mildly mischievous attempts to hide (one simply puts a pot on top of his head). Several steps later (these include "Gently scrub./ .../ Pat dry,/ dust the bottoms"), the mother lovingly tucks in her young ones, at which point the recipe instructs, "Leave in a warm place until morning." With an inviting framework that parent and child will want to mimic, and its cozy, delicately watercolored scenes, this book will go down as satisfyingly as a warm glass of milk. Ages 2-up. (Feb.)
