KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE

KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE

Bibliography:

Willems, Mo. 2004. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. New York, New York:
          Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 0-7868-1870-0

Plot Summary:

            Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale is the story of Trixie, her mom, dad and her favorite toy named Knuffle Bunny. One bright morning Trixie and her dad left the house to run an errand. They walked through their neighborhood and the park to the laundromat. Once there, Trixie and her dad began to put the laundry in the washer. They started the laundry and had left to walk back home when Trixie, who cannot talk yet, began trying to tell her daddy something. He does not understand and in a placating manner tells her they are going home. All the way home Trixie tries to tell her daddy that Knuffle Bunny was gone. Trixie is frustrated and upset and begins to throw temper tantrums which in turn makes her dad frustrated and upset. They get home and immediately Trixie’s mom asks where Knuffle Bunny is. The family runs back to the Laundromat where Knuffle Bunny is rescued from the washer and Trixie says her first words…

“Knuffle Bunny.”

Critical Analysis:

            Mo Willems has created a tale that children as well as adults can relate to and has captured the age old dilemma of miscommunication between parents and children in a humorous way.  All parents and children have trouble communicating at sometime in their relationship and frustration sets in. This happened with Trixie and her dad. Just because Trixie is young and cannot talk yet, does not mean she cannot get frustrated. She thought she was trying to tell her dad that they lost Knuffle  Bunny, her dad did not understand her babbling and got frustrated by Trixie’s behavior.

Willems’ illustrations are the best part of her book. The way she expresses the action through the illustrations, such as the frustration on the face of Trixie’s dad, adds to the believability of the characters. Willems uses digital pictures which were taken in Brooklyn and have been altered by computer. Her characters, which are hand drawn ink, are cartoonish in nature and are blended with the pictures. The blending of these two types of media makes her characters stand out in a very effective manner and make the book not just an ordinary picture book.

Connections:

            Other books by Mo Willems are:

                        Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

                        Knuffle Bunny Free

                        Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Awards:

            Caldecott Honor Book

            Irma S. and James A. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature

           

Book Reviews:

School Library Journal

A seamless and supremely satisfying presentation of art and text.

Booklist

            This comic gem proves that Caldecott Medal-winner Willems, the Dr. Spock and Robin Williams of the lap-sit crowd, has just as clear a bead on pre-verbal children as on silver-tongued preschoolers.