  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 09/01/2010 PreS-Gr 2—In her field-test trial, Newbie joins the rest of her big-booted rescue team in trying to extract a young giraffe from a pool of muck on a savanna. Nothing works. Complicating the rescue and threatening a "Code Red" (abandon rescue and victim) is an incoming band of evil-looking hyenas. When Newbie realizes that the giraffe she is comforting will be at the mercy of the ravening pack, she ties herself onto its neck and the other team members use the rhythm of the "bunny hop" to pull the leggy creature free. The plot meanders lazily and illogically from a behind-the-scenes look at Newbie's training, to the bumbling rescue attempts, to a somewhat longish section of indecision while the hyenas gallop in as the bunnies burble and chat. Scattered throughout the text, apropos of nothing, are quotes from movies that will mostly soar over the heads of young listeners. The full-color art uses minimalist backgrounds and simple shapes to focus readers' eyes on the action. Libraries looking for books on community helpers or rescue teams may enjoy seeing these bunnies in action, but this effort is additional at best.—Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 07/01/2010 The aptly named Newbie is a rescue bunny in training. Under the tutelage of her grizzled superiors, she has aced all prerequisites but one: the dreaded Field Test. One day, the alarm blares: a giraffe is in trouble! It’s an adorable leap of kid logic (of course bunnies rescue giraffes) that ends with the crew freeing a giraffe from mud before hyenas descend. Menchin’s cartoon art is as sharply lined and colorful as they come, and he makes fine use of the infinite African horizon. His bunnies look hilariously grave as they rush around in safety helmets; the most amusing moment comes when the junior member grits her teeth in grim determination: “Newbie pulls herself together.” Cronin’s story feels like an actual story, complete with mini plot arcs, fast parts, slow parts, and character development—a nice change from the fast dash of most picture books. At least two bits are confusing (it’s initially unclear how the giraffe is stuck, and there’s no telling why the hyenas ultimately retreat). But, like Newbie, this off-kilter, unpredictable book emerges victorious. - Copyright 2010 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 12/01/2010 Newbie, a novice Rescue Bunny, has, despite her goofiness, passed all her apprenticeship hurdles save for her Field Test (“Until then her job is to alphabetize the spice rack”). She has the chance to prove herself when the squad swings into action to help a giraffe trapped in a mudhole in that most dangerous of areas, hyena country. When the chief declares a Code Red (bunnies evacuate due to the presence of hyenas on the scene), however, it’s stubborn Newbie who refuses to leave her charge and inspires a rescue under difficult circumstances. The end is a little confusing (it won’t be actually clear to kids if Newbie passed her test), but there are plenty of laughs along the way. Cronin’s tongue-in-cheek narration embraces the cinematic familiarity of her new-kid-makes-good plot, and the critters’ speech-bubble dialogue is chock-a-block with famous quotes (“You had me at hello”; “Here’s looking at you, kid”) repurposed for the situation at hand; the team’s snarky hazing/mentoring of Newbie will definitely elicit snickers. Menchin’s digitally created art offers a cartoonish simplicity that’s on the flat side, but there’s humor in the exaggerated drama and the safety-gear-equipped bunnies (Newbie, as the only pink bunny in the lot, is easily discernible). Though this could be shared, perhaps as a joint readaloud, with youngsters with a taste for irreverence, it will be at its best as an elementary readalone for kids to relish the pop-culture-rich snark on their own. DS - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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