Justine Korman

Hopper O'Hare is tired of having to wait in lines for everything at school. But then he imagines being the first and only bunny using all his favorite things and realizes that may not be what would make him happiest.

It's another boring little life lesson for a boring little bunny.

My daughter liked this series when she was young but not so much that we ever re-read them much or sought out any more books in the series after getting a pack of four readers in a classroom Scholastic book show more order.

FOR REFERENCE:

Rated "Indifferent" in our old book database by Rod; rated "Good" by Adelia. show less

Hopper O'Hare thinks he has figured out how to duck out on clean-up time in his school classroom, but the teacher and fellow students aren't having it. Finally stuck with cleaning up his own mess, he gets help from Lilac Lapin, who volunteers to show him ways to make tidying time a fun time.

Lilac obviously has an obsessive-compulsive personality -- and I know this because her cleaning philosophy made so much sense to me -- but I find it hard to believe she can pass her love of order onto show more Hopper like a virus even if that's what the book is claiming. Maybe Hopper got an instant crush and is willing to do anything to please Lilac?

It's a fairly bland children's story in writing and art but with a bit of a retro vibe. show less

There was another book the Offspring had in which two witches, cousins I think in it, were going around, possibly also on Halloween, and the good witch was undoing everything the bad witch was doing. It's been a classic set-up for at least a hundred years now. The good witch is always pretty and colorful and smiling and has a lovely name like Glenda or, checks book, Abracadella, and everyone is happy to see her. And the bad witch is ugly and frowns and is drab and dressed all in black and show more has a name like The Wicked Witch of the West or Gloomificent. And, ugh, really, Again?

To be fair the primary attraction here is pulling the tab and seeing the color magically return to the picture which is a very neat trick if you are two and don't have an iPad yet.

I would prefer that children's books did not always equate goodness with prettiness, usually fair and blonde, often with curls. Common: you have to prepare kids to encounter identical twins and figure out which is the evil one without a big flashing sign saying The Good One.

That said, I do love the striped socks and Doc Martens look, and would like to see it used on all of the witches: so much more practical than those tall hats.

And yes, this is a book which has been sitting in various places among the To Read stacks since last August. I was going to use it for Halloween Bingo, but only because I hadn't remembered how very little text was involved.

Personal copy because the kids didn't feel the need to keep it, only I did. show less

A simple, idealized lesson about sharing.

Hopper O'Hare doesn't like sharing because that means being close to other people who bump you or mess up your work or tools with their carelessness. But he counts to ten and surrenders his personal space and sense of order because . . . fun?

It's hard for an anal-retentive introvert like me to get behind this.

FOR REFERENCE:

Rated "Indifferent" in our old book database by Rod; rated "Good" by Adelia.