Bunny Bungalow

This is one of our favorite children's books. My four year old daughter asks to read it again and again. We just bought a second copy for my niece for Christmas. It is an endearing story of a family of bunnies that find a little home and "make it their own." Cynthia Rylant's easy poetic style shares all the things families do together that make them special, like the mother bunny giving her baby bunnies baths, making them warm tea at night, and Daddy bunny reading a bedtime story. My children especially enjoy the little bunnies playing with their little bunny dolls and stomping on the cherries.

We adore Cynthia Rylant here in our house: she's a children's author in whose books everything is always very wholesome and sweet, with lots of muffins and mugs of tea and people being kind to one another. But she manages to do it without sticky sentimentality--the books just feel honest and warm. This discovery is no different: a charming book about family and home that makes me almost cry each time I read it to my three year old, who adores the lovely, detailed illustrations.

I bought this book for my 3 year old daughter after borrowing it from the library. She loves it and I love reading it to her. This book just gives you a real good feeling!!

"Bunny Bungalow" isn't so much a story as a celebration of cosy domestic life. In well-turned verse couplets, it explains how the bunny family (Mom, Dad, three kids and baby) set up house in a bungalow and "made it all their own" by decorating it (including a carrot weathervane) and living in it (baths, picnics, playing, bedtime, etc.) All of this is skillfully illustrated with simple strokes and appropriate washes of color. This is a quiet, cheerful book with no conflict in it, and will make a soothing singsong read-aloud for preschoolers.

Both my toddler and I really enjoy this book about how a bunny family sets up its new home - all members working and playing together in the process. The pictures give quite a bit of detail while maintaining a cozy feel. Accompanying the visual are sing-song rhymes(about 4 lines per page). It's a very nice book to wind down.