A Boy and His Bunny FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Anne May
Pish posh to ordinary costume rabbit ears. Author Sean Bryan imagines life with a real bunny on one's head. His nameless boy protagonist wakes one morning to discover just that, and he reveals a few possible scenarios in a day with a hare on your hair. In very simple rhyme, the bunny on the head, is, predictably, dubbed Fred. Together boy and bunny discover, among other things, that sandwiches can be spread, languages can be said, and trips can be taken on a bobsled or moped. Alas, Bryan does not approach the genius of Dr. Seuss. The real appeal in Bryan's book just might be in encouraging young audiences to recognize rhyme and to think of their own additional possibilities, in verse, for the boy and Fred. It could be a springboard for a quiet routine that includes this book and ends with rhyming schemes of one's own making. The uncomplicated, two-color line illustrations in soft blue and yellow by Tom Murphy are a pleasant support. 2005, Arcade Publishing, Ages 2 to 5.
Kirkus Reviews
Likely to tickle many a preschool listener's ribs, this droll episode pairs simply drawn, two-color pictures with a text that takes relentless advantage of repetition and rhymes for "head." Having gotten out of bed with a rabbit (named, naturally, Fred) on his head, a lad proceeds down to get fed, and brings his understandably astonished mother around to acceptance by proving that bunny-capped is not handicapped: "Books can be read with a bunny on your head. Peanut butter can be spread with a bunny on your head," and more, on to even, "explore the seabed. . . ." " 'Wow,' Mom exclaims at last, 'You look pretty cool with that bunny on your head!' " Sister's subsequent entrance with an entirely different sort of creature on her noggin adds a final giggle to this cousin of David Small's Imogene's Antlers (1985). (Picture book. 4-6)
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