Chubby Bunny

 Murphy's welcome first foray into picture books is an exceptionally friendly and frank fat-positive contribution. 

An earnest attempt at dispelling fatphobia that may inadvertently lead to teasing.

This message-forward picture book debut from Murphy (Dumplin') depicts a world in which family warmly supports a child facing anti-fat bias at school. "Barbara 'Bunny' Binks came from a long line of Barbaras.... Bunny went by Bunny, her mother went by Babs, and her grandmother went by, well--Barbara!" Bunny, who wears her hair in two "bunny buns," loves her nickname and its connection to her pet rabbit. When school field day finally arrives, expressionistic illustrations by Searle (The Greatest Thing) show the round-bodied, pale-skinned child readying for school, "more excited than a rabbit in a carrot patch." At the event, however, she volunteers for a tie-breaking competition--"Chubby Bunny"--and finds that her classmates' cheers of the game's name "didn't feel so good." Plans to make others forget about the incident result in further comments, and time at home opens a new line of discussion for the three Barbaras. The collaborators clearly define chubby as a neutral descriptor, allowing Bunny to reclaim the word in interacting with her schoolmates: "I don't think there's anything wrong with... being chubby. Or with being tall... or wearing glasses," the protagonist says. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: John Cusick, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. Illustrator's agent: Jen Linnan, Linnan Literary Management. (Oct.)

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