My daughter’s godmother treated her this Christmas to the amazing Lutyens & Rubinstein’s Year in Books for Children. [As a side note, if you have never been to this treasure trove of a Notting Hill independent book shop, go.] The book that came through our post slot this month (my favourite so far) was Wolfie the Bunny.

Set in a Park Slope populated by woodland creatures (with the exception of the kindly sloth who runs the local grocery co op – natch), the story begins when a family of hipster bunnies (dad in argyle and fedora, mom in plaid and funky glasses) dicover a baby wolf left at their front door. Mom and Dad are smitten. Daughter, Dot, seems to be the only one who sees the issue with a rabbit family taking in a wolf, “He’s going to eat us all up!”.

Dot’s suspicion of her new brother, Wolfie (the wolf who literally ends up in rabbit’s clothing) grows as, well, he does. Don’t let her fluffy exterior mislead you, Dot is one tough bunny, and when her loyalty is tested at the end of the story, she doesn’t disappoint.

Delightful details abound throughout Ohora’s playful artwork (painted in acrylic) poking gentle fun at Brooklyn hipster culture (mom uses a polaroid camera to snap pics of baby Wolfie, the local Carrot Patch Co Op sells “local organic lucky bamboo) and Dykman totally gets the host of emotions involved when a new sibling is introduced to a family. This author/illustrator pairing really add to each other’s work. They have recently released another book together, Horrible Bear. I look forward to getting my hands on a copy. I’ll let you know when I do.