Bunny Money - Hardcover

Rosemary Wells (rosemarywells.com) is the author of 120 books for children, including more than 40 about the beloved bunnies, Max and Ruby, who star in their own television show on Nick, Jr. She travels all over the country as a tireless advocate for literacy. Wells was born in New Jersey to a playwright father and ballet dancer mother who encouraged her artistic bent. She worked as an art director and designer before illustrating her first book. She is the mother of two grown daughters, Victoria and Marguerite, and grandmother to four girls.

Wells' ink-and-watercolor illustrations show the sibling edginess and the shopping scenarios with economy and zest: one frame pictures the green vampire teeth on the shelf, pointing at an enthralled, wide-eyed, huge-eared Max. Children will also enjoy keeping track of the money as the wallet empties out. On the endpapers there are pictures of one-and five-dollar bills, with various bunny portraits in place of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Some show Max and Ruby; others show celebrity bunnies, from Martina Navratilova and Eleanor Roosevelt to Desmond Tutu. Wells suggests that grown-ups help kids photocopy, paste, count, and shop with the bunny money. Be sure to add this to the Booklist bibliography "Beginning Math Books" . Hazel Rochman