Dad surprises Annie and her pet rabbit, Snowball, with a day trip to the country. They buy food at a roadside stand, throw stones from a bridge, and enjoy a picnic lunch together. Written in short but natural-sounding sentences, the simple text creates a cheerful tone. Similarly upbeat, the ink-and-watercolor illustrations have a satisfying sense of spontaneity that suits the story well. This summer idyll is a pleasant addition to the Annie and Snowball series, an offshoot of the Henry and Mudge books for beginning readers.

Annie and cousin Henry join a book club and learn that reading can be "an outside thing" (Book Bugs Club); Annie lets her bunny Snowball sniff a map to choose a destination for an impromptu day trip with Dad (Surprise Day). Both the stories and the breezy pen-and-ink with watercolor illustrations celebrate spontaneity in a way that will please the new-reader audience.