Cate, Annette LeBlanc

Personal

Female. Education: Attended Art Institute of Boston.

Addresses

Home—Pepperell, MA.

Career

Author and illustrator. Art director for cable television comedy series Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, Comedy Central.

Writings

(Self-illustrated) The Magic Rabbit, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2007.

Sidelights

In her debut as an author and illustrator, Annette LeBlanc Cate tells the story of Ray, a magician who is inseparable from his beloved rabbit, Bunny. In The Magic Rabbit readers watch as the duo does everything together, from watching television while nibbling on popcorn to performing on the downtown streets of a large city. One day, in the middle of Ray and Bunny's street-show magic act, a juggler on a unicycle interrupts the two. Amidst all the confusion, a small dog chases Bunny away from the scene, and the fluffy white rabbit becomes separated from the magician. During the rest of the afternoon, Ray and Bunny search for each other without success, but things change as evening comes and Bunny spots a trail of gold stars.

Cate illustrates The Magic Rabbit with black-and-white drawings, only introducing color in the form of the lucky gold stars that eventually reunite the pair at story's end. According to School Library Journal contributor Gay Lynn Van Vleck, these "black-and-white drawings perfectly evoke an urban setting." Van Vleck also commented favorably on Cate's narrative, adding that the "succinct text has a storyteller's style." A Kirkus Reviews critic thought that the book's "hand-lettered text and artful compositions … further contribute to the whimsical appeal of this winning debut." A Publishers Weekly reviewer similarly applauded The Magic Rabbit as an "impressive debut," remarking that Cate "creates spreads, spots and storyboard-style panels that contain a wealth of detail and feeling."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2007, John Peters, review of The Magic Rabbit, p. 72.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2007, review of The Magic Rabbit.

Publishers Weekly, August 6, 2007, review of The Magic Rabbit, p. 188.

School Library Journal, September, 2007, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of The Magic Rabbit, p. 160.