by Nadine Brun-Cosme (Author) Olivier Tallec (Illustrator)
A picture book about three best friends who do everything together, until they each realize that sometimes having time alone can be nice too.
Rabbit, Duck, and Big Bear are best friends. They do everything together and go everywhere together except for one place. They never go down the long and winding path together.
But this winter, when Rabbit, Duck, and Big Bear go skating on the frozen pond, Rabbit loses control and barrels straight down the path. What she finds there is one of the most beautiful places she has ever seen, but to her surprise, Big Bear and Duck both admit they sometimes go there when they want to be alone. And while she sits in the quiet calm, Rabbit begins to understand why. In this story rich with social emotional learning, young readers will see the importance of balancing time with friends and time spent on their own.
Nadine Brun-Cosme and Olivier Tallec perfectly pair to create a fun story with lovable characters and an important message. This book is the ideal read-aloud to help little ones wind down before quiet time.
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In a long, leisurely setup to this reflective picture book by previous collaborators Brun-Cosme and Tallec (the Big Wolf and Little Wolf series), affectionate lines establish that Rabbit, Duck, and Big Bear are both best friends and constant companions: "They play together, eat together, and chop wood together. They run, hide, and chase each other." Pencil and acrylic paint spreads show lean Duck, long-eared Rabbit, and wide-eyed Big Bear cavorting happily together through spring, summer, and fall. There's one place they never go, though: a path that leads deeper into the forest. In the winter, having not yet learned how to stop on ice skates, Rabbit inadvertently travels down the path and finds a forest sanctuary beneath a majestic fir, where she "inhales the rich, earthy scent. She listens to the wind's smooth sound." The revelation that Big Bear and Duck have been there before, and regularly visit the glade alone, both surprises Rabbit and leads to a further kind of magic: that of contemplative solitude found and appreciated. Ages 4-8. Agent (for author and illustrator): Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Feb.)
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