The Giant Jumperee (Dial Books, 32 pp., ages 3 to 5), by the award-winning British team of author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Helen Oxenbury, is a story about a group of friends working together. When Rabbit hears a loud voice bellowing threateningly from inside a burrow, he gathers Cat, Bear, and Elephant to help him decide what to do. But it鈥檚 Mama Frog who fearlessly confronts the unknown creature, only to make a discovery that quickly shifts the narrative from apprehension to hilarity. Oxenbury鈥檚 soft watercolors and pastel colors create a lush countryside and her characterizations of the animals are marvelous.
