Hot, Cross Bunny

The bright and bold cover of Hot, Cross Bunny entices you to pick it up to discover just what could make a bunny so mad?

It turns out that Basil, the bunny does not react well when things don't go his way, and he gets so worked up that steam comes out of his ears! Maybe there is a better way to get what he wants?

Stephanie Thatcher's illustrations are filled with emotion; you can feel the joy in the bunnies as they embrace, and you can feel the anger and frustration of Basil. Little illustrative details are included throughout the book for readers to enjoy, like a little mouse that pops up across the story. I loved the variety of illustrated full spreads and other pages where white space drew your attention to the smaller illustrations and details. This also complemented the changes in text size and emphasis - I can see young readers being able to understand where to read to create impact thanks to the bold text.

Hot, Cross Bunny is a book of big emotions and it delivers a message of an alternative way of dealing with those emotions when things do not go our way. It is also just a fun picture book that I can see will become a fast favourite in our library.