Pink Me Up (review)

The only girl bunny in her litter of nine, Violet has been keenly anticipating a girly outing with her mother to the "Pink Girls Pink-nic." Come the day, however, Mama sports pink spots of the illness, not fashion, variety; fortunately, good sport Daddy not only steps in but also allows his daughter to thoroughly decorate him in the target colorway ("We just have to pink me up"), so that there's the fun of dressing up Daddy as well as the joy of attending the Pink-nic amid a crowd of admiring girls and mommies. This is a comic yet respectful treatment of the sort of disappointment that looms large to a youngster, especially one who clearly is struggling with minority status in her household. Harper (who casts a savvy eye at slightly older girlhood in Fashion Kitty, BCCB 12/05) unfolds the story with humorous detail (Violet keeps trying to shove the family cat into a pink chapeau; Dad cracks his daughter up by briefly sporting Mama's skirt on his head), while at the heart offering a credible picture of one of those family moments that turns into an oft-repeated family story. The acrylic art, composed of tidy, slightly childlike figures colored with strokes in smooth regularity, offers a largely candy-colored palette that complements and emphasizes the pink with accents and the airy white backgrounds; Daddy may not end up as dramatically pink as viewers might wish, but those emulating Violet's paternal stylings in the real world will discover that they're pretty darn rosy. It's good to see room for dads in the pink onslaught (especially such a nice dad as this one), and young audiences will seize on the real-life possibilities of elements here from the pink-nic to the daddy makeover.