English / Great Britain
Life is magic
McLaren, Meg
(text/illus.)
London: Andersen Press, 2016. – [33] p.
ISBN 978-1-78344-486-1
Magic | Rabbit | Magician | Picture book
Reading age: 5+
White Ravens issue: 2017
Magician Monsieur Lapin realizes that a successful show depends on the right assistant. He ultimately selects Houdini the rabbit, who proves to be a stellar choice. Houdini “took care of…everything.” But one night Monsieur Lapin slips on a banana peel, and Houdini steps in to salvage the show. By sheer accident, Houdini turns the magician into a rabbit, thereby switching the roles of magician and helper. Houdini increasingly embraces the starring role, and soon Rabbit Lapin and even the other rabbit assistants grow increasingly unhappy with their new star. But ultimately Houdini tires of stardom and schemes with the others to perform his greatest trick – he turns Rabbit Lapin back into Monsieur Lapin. Visual sequences effectively propel the story’s plotline. End papers (opening ones depict a deck of playing cards with the magician as the king; closing endpapers include the rabbit as Ace/Joker), title page (presented as a lit marquee billing the show), and double-spreads all signal a notably well-done book design.