Ten Little Rabbits by Maurice Sendak

Ten Little Rabbits, published ten years after the author’s death, doesn’t detract from the Sendak legacy.

Ten Little Rabbits by Maurice Sendak. Harper, 2024, 26 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 0-4

Recommended for: ages 2-4

Though copyrighted by the illustrator in 1970, Ten Little Rabbits didn’t see publication until last month. No reason why or why not. It’s a simple counting book where rabbits are the thing to be counted. The young magician who strides on stage is an unmistakable Sendak hero, whose signature “M” could stand for Maurice or Max or Micky. His one trick is conjuring a rabbit from a top hat, but he’ll go one better—even two, three, four, or five better. As rabbits fill the stage, though, they show their independence by climbing all over him. While counting bunnies readers can also track M’s emotions by his facial expressions, from arrogance to irritation to dismay.

But he has another trick up his sleeve: What appears can also disappear, even though we don’t get to see how he pulls that one off. It’s a slight book with very few words but all the necessary numbers. As it was copyrighted shortly before Sendak’s iconic Where the Wild Things Are, he may have found his interest going in other directions and so never went through with publication. It’s a pleasant, if not brilliant addition to his body of work, and toddlers who haven’t yet met Max or Mickey will enjoy it.

Overall Rating: 3.75 (out of 4)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: God Counts (starred review) is an outstanding example of a Bible-based counting book.
• Reflection: See our thoughts on Sendak’s legacy after his death in 2013.

We are participants in the Amazon LLC affiliate program; purchases you make through affiliate links like the one below may earn us a commission. Read more here.

Order from Amazon.