Bunny School: A Learning Fun-For-All

Bunny School takes the reader through a full school day with a classroom full of cute little rabbits. The story is written in rhyming verse, so it's a lot of fun to read and it has a nice 'beat'. The rhyming is very nicely done. The story does not feature one single main character, rather, the story takes you through all of the activities that the bunnies do together as a class. I like the way the story is told. It could have come off as impersonal because the story is not told through a main character's point of view -- it is basically a narration giving a general overview of the school day. But to the contrary, the artwork adds such expressiveness to the characters and imbues each with such personality, that you feel like you are following each individual bunny's progress throughout their day. The art appears to be done in colored pencil and watercolor, and proves to be a great marriage of the two. I like how the bunnies features and bodies are really truly "bunny"-like, but they still have a sense of whimsy and fantasy about them - sort of in the Beatrix Potter school of bunny, but with a style all their own. Design-wise, the illustrations also take up the ENTIRE spread on each page, save for the overlaid curved-edged box containing each spreads' text. So many books these days have designs that intermingle the art and the text. While I enjoy these types of books, for my money there's nothing like a good ol', old-school, full-page color picture book done in a classic style once in awhile, and Bunny School delivers this. The compositions themselves are really interesting and well thought out. They are easy on the eyes but are deceptively complicated. I am sure it was a lot of work to make them look this interesting. The viewer does not see the labor though. All the viewer sees is a fun illustration that is endlessly interesting, but they're not exactly sure why.(This is a compliment to "Bunny School" artist Paige Miglio!) Most of the spreads have many characters, and often, they are engaged in various independent activities. It's fun to see what each of the individual characters are doing on each page against each page's story text. This adds a lot to the story and it is so much fun to find new things to look at each time I look at a spread. "Bunny School" is one of my favorite picture books in my personal collection. It's just a total comfort read for me.

Rick Walton has written a sweet and informative book especially for those anxious children heading off to preschool or Kindergarten for the first time. It is also good for the more experienced child. My little one adores her preschool but is off for the summer. She really misses her class and all the fun things they do--just like the things the bunnies do at their school. The story is very realistic when it comes to an average day. It helps her to relive the happy times she's had in her school and to look forward to another year. The illustrations by Paige Miglio are heartwarming--very cute and skillfully drawn. Just to let you know the author and illustrator have paired up previously on other bunny books.

My 21-month old can't get enough of the rhythmic rhyme, detailed illustrations and fun adventure of a bunny's day at school! She will actually sit the entire 5-7 minutes it takes to read the story - amazing. She relates to quite a bit of it, as well, since she spends one morning a week at a "preschool" parents morning out. This book is a great way to show your preschooler that school is fun!