Rabbityness
Publisher: Child's Play
Among numerous credits for her work, Jo Empson has the distinction of having been nominated for the Kate Greenaway award for two different books in two consecutive years. In Rabbityness she explores what we think of as typical of a rabbit, to which every child will relate, and illustrates this in simple black and green images. But Empson's Rabbit also likes unusual things like painting and making music, and the pages explode into colour and movement. When Rabbit vanishes his grieving friends discover that he has left them the materials to paint and make music themselves, and they can celebrate his memory.
This beautifully illustrated, simple book will engage young readers, and address the sorrow of any bereavement they experience.