Mary's Clover by Nila E. Sturlin

-April

In this book, Mary's bunny gets sick.  Mom takes the bunny to the vet and finds that it needs medication.  Mom does a great job of making sure Clover gets medicine right when needed.  When Mary misses her bunny, she thinks that giving extra medicine will help Clover recover more quickly.
After Clover is given extra medication, the poor bunny has to spend the night at the vet.  The pharmacist comes over and explains medication safety to Mary.

I liked the story.  It was easy to follow.  I think the readers that it's intended for can understand the moral of the story and how it relates to being cautious and taking medicine when you're supposed to.

All of the characters are likable and easy to relate to.  I've had pets where I would do anything to help them, so I could see things from Mary's perspective.  Having children, I could see things from the mother's perspective as well.  She's trying to not only save Clover, but save her daughter heartache as well.  The pharmacist did a great job as an educator.  Interestingly enough, Sturlin is a third year pharmacy student.

The illustrations aren't cartoony.  They come across as serious so that children will grasp that this isn't a silly book, but rather one that teaches them something important.  Some of the pictures are pretty dark, almost like they used a filter.

This book is definitely one to be shared with a parent.  There's an average of a small paragraph per page, and probably a child of eight to ten could read it alone.  Some of the words are a little more difficult.  The important factor here is that the child will most likely have questions.