Southern California author and artist James J. Cartwright (creator of the Hamsters! comic, which we previously reviewed here) has returned with his first novel for kids, The Rabbit Chef and the Phantom Pepper. He illustrated the front as well, of course. “Cass the Rabbit is on an ambitious hunt for the legendary ingredient, the Phantom Pepper, so she can finally complete the greatest bowl of chili the forest will ever know. Cass is a rabbit who wants to be a master chef. Between her pesky brothers and mishaps in the kitchen she just can?t get her recipes quite right. Luckily, her best friend Jay the Fox is there to convince Cass to venture away from her cozy rabbit hole and into the depths of the treacherous forest in order to find the one veggie that can complete her spicy chili in time for the Harvest Festival. But that forest is full of secrets that aren’t ready to be discovered. Can she find the Phantom Pepper? Is it a good idea to steal from The Old Witch? And what really lurks deep down the forgotten road? This rabbit wants to be the top chef in the woodlands but is too busy cooking up trouble on her cuisine quest.” James wrote and published Rabbit Chef himself. It’s available now over at Abe Books.
image c. 2015 James Cartwright
