BOOK CLUB
YOUNGER READERS
THE CURSE OF THE SCHOOL RABBIT
Judith Kerr, Harper Collins, $24.99
err died at the age of 95 in May this year; this is the last of her works. The stories are in humdrum settings with a flash of surrealism, mostly featuring an animal as the central character. Kerr’s appealing illustrations are drawn in ordinary lead pencil with smudges for the fog and textures on garments. Snowflake the rabbit protagonist is a blasted nuisance. Tom, the boy who must care for the animal while its owner is away, has much to contend with — a little sister who becomes ill, a father who is out of work and a mother who is struggling to qualify as a teacher. I’m not giving the game away when I
