Fluffy, "a luxury stuffed rabbit," lives in a sock drawer and is the "backup bunny" should young Max ever lose his favorite stuffed rabbit, Bunny. After a long wait, Fluffy's time comes when Bunny goes missing. Max is not pleased with the replacement, and poor Fluffy suffers. Though the two eventually share a few adventures, at bedtime Max whines again for Bunny. Fluffy, feeling somewhat guilty, reveals the location of the missing Bunny, and it's back to the sock drawer for him until Max wails for both bunnies. When it's Fluffy's turn to get left behind, he gets a sense of how easily he can be replaced as he witnesses the use of another backup bunny. While some children might understand Max's and Fluffy's predicaments, it's difficult to empathize with characters that seem to have no sense of loyalty and care only about themselves. Fortunately, Max and Fluffy appear much more winsome in the illustrations than they come across in the story, and that should garner them some fans.

Fluffy is a -luxury stuffed rabbit- who spends his days inside a sock drawer. His job: -If Max ever loses his favorite stuffed rabbit, I step in to save the day.- But Max isn-t easily fooled; after Bunny goes missing, Max throws Fluffy to the floor with an unceremonious -splat!- (-That-s not Bunny!- the boy insists, not consoled in the least. -His ears don-t feel right!-) Fluffy does his best to salvage his pride and win over Max. Finally accepting failure, he helps reunite Max with Bunny, and his selfless commitment to Max has happy consequences-perhaps there-s room for both bunnies in Max-s heart. Fluffy directly addresses readers, and his frustration and sadness over being the second, oft-rejected choice will resonate with them-even if they won-t necessarily recognize themselves in fickle Max. Stones includes a lot of physical comedy at Fluffy-s expense in quiet but emotive cartoons; during one particularly humiliating sequence, Fluffy is locked in a grocery store freezer case, doused with green paint, and strung up from a clothesline by his ears. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)