ALA Booklist (Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

After assembling all the ingredients needed to make a berry cake, Mini Rabbit and his mother discover that they are fresh out of berries. So the little bunny grabs his red backpack and rushes out in search of the fruit, completely missing what his mother calls after him. Whether he's rowing to a lighthouse, enduring a snowstorm, or rappelling from a high cliff, nothing deters Mini Rabbit from his goal. Though he appears to travel far from his treehouse, he encounters several concerned adults who know his name, but he turns down their offers of help. Along his journey, he repeats the refrain: "Cake. Cake. Cake. I can find berries." Observant readers will notice that small black birds appear throughout the story, carrying the red berries that actually grow at the base of Mini Rabbit's home. An unseen narrator inserts occasional comments about the wisdom of this venture. All's well that ends well, though Mini Rabbit's response to his mother's offer of berry cake turns the tale topsy turvy.

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2020)

Making a cake with Mother Rabbit only to discover they're out of berries ("'No berries, no cake.' 'No cake? No way!'") leads a motivated Mini Rabbit on a berry-finding mission. If only Mini Rabbit had waited for Mother Rabbit's helpful suggestion of where to look...but then this book would have been much shorter and not nearly as entertaining. Different fonts for narration and dialogue add textual clarity, while refrains expressing Mini Rabbit's determination ("I can find berries") and one-track mind ("Cake! Cake! Cake!") should appeal to young viewers. Throughout his varied, vibrant, textured art, Bond offers a plethora of visual jokes and intriguing details (including reappearing critters, nearly hidden creatures with expressive eyes, and the presence of berries on almost every page). While trekking through the forest, to the seaside, and up a snowy mountain, the protagonist rejects all assistance and advice: "Don't you need your coat?" "You're not lost, are you?" Mini Rabbit realizes the latter questioner might be on to something only after finally finding a berry (in a slightly ominous-looking cave). But just then a delicious berry cake smell leads Mini Rabbit safely home to Mother Rabbit and, in a humorous twist, a new goal. With all the details to notice, repeated readings will likely enthusiastically be called for...as will cake.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Jaunty digital artwork by newcomer Bond introduces Mini Rabbit and Mother Rabbit as they set out to make a cake; they-re compact, stylized black figures with slender snouts and enormous, unblinking eyes. As Mother Rabbit discovers that they-re out of berries, Mini Rabbit-s ears wilt. -I-ll find berries,- the little rabbit resolves. -Must have cake.- Off the child dashes, a tiny figure wearing a red knapsack sprinting across long, horizontal panels that make note of the distance covered. Mini Rabbit chants while running through a meadow (-Cake! Cake! Cake!-), ears alone visible above long grass. Landscapes change and adult animals kindly check in, but nothing stops Mini Rabbit from rowing across the sea to a lighthouse, scaling a mountain in a blizzard, and rappelling from a precipice. After the young bunny finds a single berry in a dark cave, a wonderful smell beckons him homeward. Everybody knows someone like Mini Rabbit, who forges ahead with wild optimism, oblivious to the sinking likelihood of success, and Bond-s debut wittily explores this attribute alongside the mismatch between Mini Rabbit-s quotidian desire for pastry and his momentous, world-spanning trek. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)