Knuffle Bunny

Using a combination of muted black-and-white photographs and expressive illustrations, this stunning book tells a brilliantly true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy’s in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong.

This funny story tells how Trixie and Knuffel Bunny’s trip to the laundromat with Dad goes terribly wrong when Trixie realizes some bunny’s been left behind…! Her attempts to alert Dad all the way home are unsuccessful, until Mum points out that Knuffel Bunny is missing and the family hotfoot it back to the laundromat. Fortunately, KB is safe, if a little wet… A 2005 Caldecott Honor Book*. Author Biography* Mo Willems is the author of the Caldecott Honor-winning books Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (9781844280599) and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (9781844285136). His other groundbreaking picture books include Leonardo, the Terrible Monster (9781406312157) and Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct (9781406312294). Mo began his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards. Critical Reviews ———————— Kirkus Reviews Anguish begets language in this tale of a toddler’s lost stuffie. Trixie and her daddy go on an errand to the local laundromat, an odyssey that takes the intrepid pair through the park and past the school and back-but “a block or so later . . . Trixie realized something.” Her desperate attempts to communicate (“AGGLE FLAGGLE KLABBLE!”) proving fruitless, Trixie resorts to time-honored toddler tactics: she bawls and goes boneless. Readers will deduce what Trixie’s clueless daddy does not: her toy bunny has been left behind. Retro-style (think Rocky and Bullwinkle) cartoons depict the human players in the drama; sepia-tinted photographs of the artist’s Brooklyn neighborhood, framed in pale green, provide the backdrops. Willems is a master of body language; Trixie’s despair and her daddy’s frazzlement as expressive as her joy (“KNUFFLE BUNNY!”) and his triumph at the excavation of the errant bunny from the washing machine. The natural audience for this offering is a little older than its main character: they will easily identify with Trixie’s grief and at the same time feel superior to her hapless parent-and rejoice wholeheartedly at the happy reunion. (Picture book. 2-5)

Author Biography

Mo Willems is a three-time Caldecott Honor winner for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. His celebrated Elephant & Piggie early-reader series has been awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal on two occasions as well as three Honors. Other favourites include Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs and That Is Not a Good Idea. Before he turned to children’s books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmy Awards. Mo lives with his family in Paris, France. Find him online at www.mowillems.com and on twitter as @The_Pigeon.