Emmaline and the Bunny

This book is a work of art. The writing is superb. I have been recommending this book to anyone I meet with small children. We took it out of the library but I am going to order one to own. I could read this to my kids over and over.

Reviewed by Genna Chatel (age 9) for Reader Views (5/09) This book is about a girl named Emmaline who wants a bunny and she lives in a town that is very neat. So she goes to the wild to find a bunny that will play with her. She makes an invitation by making a safe place for the bunny to stay. All the animals come to her house and finally she sees the bunny. My favorite part of the book is when Emmaline sees the bunny in the wild and wants to take to it home because she really wants a bunny and he is very cute. Bunny is my favorite character because he is a very smart bunny and he knows how to do things like scoot-skedaddle and he's very cuddly. I love animals too and I understand how Emmaline felt when she was not neat and when she wanted a bunny friend. In one part, the story made me feel sad because the bunny gets taken away, but then he was found so I didn't feel so sad. I think the illustrations were watercolor paints and pencil. I loved the illustrations and every time I turned a page, I knew it was a good story. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Emmaline and the Bunny is a chapter book. It was easy to read, but a tiny bit challenging. In the story there were words I didn't know like scoot-skedaddle and dinglederrydee, but these words were funny to say. I would recommend "Emmaline and the Bunny" by Katherine Hannigan to children who are 8, 9 or 10-years-old and who love animals. If I could, I would give this book 1000 stars! Mom's note: Genna is a reluctant reader and she just inhaled this book. She read it in two days! It's the fastest I've ever seen her read and I didn't have to nag her to finish it, like I normally do.

Scoot-skedaddle this book right into your shopping cart, and do not wait! I'm our family's head groundskeeper, so to speak, and I make sure each child has their "own" trees and shrubs that we have planted on special occasions, their own bits of the yard to decorate (windchimes, painted bird houses, painted fences, climbing vines, bird feeders, etc.) I also make sure each child has a garden to work in every year, and they can pick out their seeds and plant them. We live in Phoenix, so we can plant 3 times a year. My oldest is absolutely nutsos about gardening. He is always the first one downstairs in the morning, zipping outside to look for progress. He is the child who measures off how high the beanstalks are, how wide across the sunflowers have gotten, and how the perennials are doing. His job is composting, and for him it is not even a chore to take it out and dump it into the composter every night. He is careful about watering and very, very interested in his "untidy" space. Watching the kids out in their gardens has made me value dirt more than I already did, because their little personalities sparkle when they garden. This one sings to the flowers, this one plants only stuff we can eat, this one overwaters and sits plop down in the mud, this one insists on hanging windchimes all over... they are careful and free and responsible and messy and HAPPY when they garden. Glory be. Emmaline and the Bunny sings to that message -- that children are wild and free, that gardens are fun and secret places, that trees and bushes are an invitation to wild creatures to come and hang out near the people. The book even features a wise old-lady gardener, just like me! (and for extra magic, her braid has its own personality!) I love the illustration of block after block of concreted-in city houses with regimented greenery and no life -- it really encourages families to get away from the dull, dry, dirty city-of-sameness and venture out into the country (or suburbs) where your kids can grow free and smell freshness. The book is poetic and lovely. Easy chapters (only a couple of pages per chapter) and BIG illustrations make this great for your first or second grader, but even little children will respond to the happy language, the poetry, and the comfort in the story. Lovely! Lovely. p.s. -- if you are looking for "green" credentials, at the very end of the acknowledgments there's a fanciful list of how much energy was "saved" in the production of the book. As if compiling a book is an environmental *crime* that requires remediation and absolution. Ha! Greenies slay me.

Everyone was always asking Emmaline questions. When she told them she wanted a bunny, no one paid any attention. She just happened to live on Shipshape Street in the town of Neatasapin and a messy bunny was simply out of the question. Even Mayor Orson Oliphant was against messy animals and messy little girls. He sent those messy animals away and if Emmaline didn't shape up he threatened to send her away too. Bye, bye! It looked like Emmaline didn't have a chance at getting a bunny, but she could dream. Her mother said she could have one if she could be neat and tidy for one month. "Whakadoodlewhipperpoo, she sighed, this is very hard to do!" Would she ever get the kind of bunny she wanted? Would Mayor Oliphant wreck her plans? This is an adorable book, complimented by lovely full color watercolors. This chapter book can be read alone, but I see it more as a circle time book or a personal "sit in a rocking chair, cuddle up book" to be shared with a loved one. It's a surefire memory maker for the little ones, especially if you purchase a stuffed bunny along with the book to add to cuddle time.

Emmiline is a little girl that lives in a town called Neatasapin. In her town everything is always in order. Emmiline has a hard time ffitting in the town, she like to get dirty and make messes! The one thing that she wants most of all is a bunny. Her parents tell her that bunnies are not allowed in Neatasapin. Emmiline sets off on a quest of her own to find a bunny of her own. When her parents see how happy the bunny makes their daughter they decide to buck the system and give the bunny a home at their house in Neatasapin. Find out what big changes are made based on that desision! This book is perfect for those children that are just starting to read chapter books. The chapters are short and the water color illustrations add alot to the story.