The Year of the Rabbit: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac by Oliver Chin
Reviewed by: Renny Fong
About the author:
Oliver Chin has written the Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series, Welcome to Monster Isle, Julie Black Belt, Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought, The Adventures of WonderBaby, and other books. His family lives in San Francisco, CA.
About the illustrator:
Justin Roth illustrated The Year of the Tiger and has contributed to animated TV series for Nickelodeon, Disney, and 4Kids Entertainment. Currently animation supervisor at the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi, he lives in New York, NY.
My take on the book:
Move over Bugs Bunny. 2011 brings on the Year of the Rabbit, and Oliver Chin adds another adventurous Tale from the Chinese Zodiac to his collection, The Year of the Rabbit. This tale introduces Rosie the Rabbit, who is born with super long ears, which brings her both misfortune and fortune. As luck would have it, a boy named Jai, whose grandmother would rather eat Rosie for dinner after getting caught raiding her garden, saves Rosie. Later on, it’s Rosie who returns the favor to Jai in this fast-paced animated story. It definitely has a comic book flavor to it. As with some of his other tales, a younger audience might get scared of the ferocious tiger and dragon, so a pre-read is definitely suggested. Chin continues to creatively reveal the virtues of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac through his series.
