Rabbit and Bear: Rabbit's Bad Habits by Julian Gough and Jim Field

Bear is sound asleep in her den, when a thief on his way out wakes her up. Bear gets up - in winter! - to investigate the thief who has stolen her salmon, honey, and beetles' eggs, and finds Rabbit. The two have a conversation about gravity, making snowmen, and friendship, until Rabbit retreats to his hole, annoyed by Bear's stupidity (and not wanting her to figure out that he's the thief). Bear sticks her head into the hole to say thanks for the moldy carrot Rabbit gave her and sees Rabbit... eat his own poop? A discussion about animal habits ensues and Bear ends up saving Rabbit from the wolf, whereupon the two become friends and Rabbit Confesses All. In the end, Rabbit decides he'd rather be a bear and the two settle down into Bear's cozy den together.

The book is heavily illustrated with aqua blue and shades of gray, as well as black and white. The illustrations are cartoon in style, with a pop-eyed rabbit, kindly but rather dim-looking bear, and crafty wolf. The font is clear and slightly larger than average, a good choice for beginning chapter readers, and the book is between a 2nd and 3rd grade level.

I'm always looking for new beginning chapter books and I think kids might find this funny, but it was a weird conglomeration of different types of story. The animals are anthropomorphic, talking, stealing, feeling shame and guilt, but they are also portrayed with actual animal habits, like Rabbit being coprophagic. But not all of them, since bears are omnivorous and would happily chow down on a nice, accessible bunny. Not to mention that if you're going to be grossed out by rabbits eating poop (coprophagy is a very common habit among many different animals) then you should be aware that bears eat carcasses, a variety of bugs, grubs, and insects, and pretty much anything they can scavenge.

Verdict: This was ok, but didn't really stand out to me. It felt like it needed tighter editing and a clearer plot thread, as well as a distinction between narrative nonfiction and funny cartoon animals. Of course, as a nonfiction devotee I'm biased, but I don't find it helpful to give kids books that encourage them to be grossed out by natural animal behavior. On the other hand, what kid doesn't like poop jokes? In the end, know your audience.

ISBN: 9781684125883; Published January 2019 by Silver Dolphin; Review copy provided by publisher