I Will Race You Through This Book!

March 18, 2019
Speed-reading takes on new meaning when a rabbit named Book-It Bunny challenges readers to a race in this interactive early-reader-turned-race-course. With long ears, buckteeth, and a tendency toward duplicity, Book-It proves to be a wily competitor. Only a page after uttering “Get set!” the rabbit is already pleading “Stop! I was not ready yet!” From there the action becomes largely visual, with Fenske’s thick line drawings emphasizing the protagonist’s theatrics: Book-It sneaks across the page while the reader’s eyes are closed, whizzes to the right edge of a spread, and pants for air. Turning to trickery—“Look up! Is that a flying cow?”—backfires when an actual flying cow comes on the scene, and though the bunny stretches out one long ear while nearing the finish line, of course the reader gets there first. “I did not even want to win,” Book-It coyly declares before challenging a new racing partner: a snail. With fast-paced text and illustrations to match, Fenske has created a page-turning race that readers will surely want to run again. Ages 4–8.

April 15, 2019
A highly competitive rabbit challenges readers to a race through the book it stars in. In rhyming couplets, Book-it Bunny makes introductions and then declares, "No one reads as fast as ME! / So turn the page and take a look. // I will RACE you through this book!" Begging a false start, the bunny then tries to trick readers into closing their eyes, which leads to a very funny wordless double-page spread in which BiB is caught tiptoeing off the recto. The shenanigans continue as BiB takes off running before the count of three and tries to distract readers with reports of a cow in flight before losing stride upon sighting the supposedly imaginary winged cow. When (of course) readers do beat the bunny, BiB pretends not to care and then chooses another book--and another opponent: a snail. Fenske's humorous metafictive competition pares down visual distractions so that readers can concentrate on decoding and on the book's sense of play. The only setting is a blue floor and white background, both given solidity by BiB's digitally thrown shadow. The bunny is a standard-issue cartoon, with sticking-up ears, buck teeth, and cotton-ball tail, all white save for touches of pink in ears and on nose. The occasional panel in yellow provides some variety. Since finishing this book means winning a race, it delivers an extra sense of satisfaction for beginning readers. (Early reader. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.