The Mysterious Sea Bunny

Raymundo (I Am Not a Fish!) dives once more into the deep, this time introducing the sea bunny—an inch-long species of sea slug whose rhinophores resemble rabbit ears and whose gills resemble a fluffy tail. The book is constructed as a presentation by an unseen narrator, who is vainly trying to both distill facts and keep an equally unseen and rambunctiously curious audience quiet so as not to disturb the shy creature. Right after one of the group insists, “Oh, I’m good at being quiet,” there’s a cry of “WHOA! What’s all that... STUFF?” in bold text barely contained by a dialogue balloon; the sea bunny moves across the ocean floor, leaving behind a trail of bright green slime. The explanation, in much smaller, volume-lowering type, includes the wisdom, “You should never judge a slug by its slime.” The book’s centerpiece is a showcase for Raymundo’s exuberant, cinematic style: it shows how the sea bunny ingests a poisonous sea sponge to make itself inedible to a predator. Rendered with thick, energetic black outlines and swaths of translucent color, it’s infotainment of the best kind—smart, funny, and just the right amount of gross. Ages 3–5. [em](June) [/em]