Emmaline and the Bunny [Hardcover]

Katherine Hannigan (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2009 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Emmaline lives in a very tidy town, but Emmaline is not tidy. Emmaline likes to hop, hop, hop and holler, “Hoopalala!” And, more than anything, Emmaline wants a bunny.

Orson Oliphant is mayor of the town. He is very tidy. Orson Oliphant does not like hopping and hollering. And, more than anything, Orson Oliphant does not like animals. He has banished them all, including bunnies.

But there is still one special, secret place in town where animals can hop and fly and be free—a place where there is a bunny.

Is there a way for Emmaline to have a bunny of her own?

Written and illustrated in full color by Katherine Hannigan—the best-selling author of Ida B—Emmaline and the Bunny is a celebration of ingenuity . . . and untidiness.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In Hannigan’s debut novel, Ida B (2004), she introduced a furious young heroine trying to cope with changes in her life. Here, in this quiet fantasy, she offers something quite different. Emmaline wants a bunny, but Emmaline lives on Shipshape Street in the town of Neatasapin. Enforcing the tidiness is Mayor Oliphant, who insists that children be silent and spotless and houses be spick-and-span. The intimidated electorate adheres to his edicts. But Emmaline, a puddle splasher and silly-phrase shouter (“Dinglederrydee!”) is an anomaly, albeit a lonely one, since the other kids won’t play with her. So she seeks out a wild bunny, which she finds, and loses, and finds again, and in the process changes both her parents and her town. Told in very short chapters and using language in unusual ways, this is a small delight, cunningly illustrated by Hannigan’s own sweet watercolors, reminiscent of Beatrix Potter’s works. The fun wordplay is just the thing to get new readers going, but most children will simply enjoy listening to the story—again and again. Grades 1-3. --Ilene Cooper

Review

“With playful, alliterative, fun-to-read-aloud language and its fantastical storyline, this winning, 32-chapter novelette recalls the magical whimsy of Roald Dahl.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )

“An ideal read-aloud.” (School Library Journal )

“A small delight, cunningly illustrated by Hannigan’s own sweet watercolors, reminiscent of Beatrix Potter’s works.” (Booklist (starred review) )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061626546
• ISBN-13: 978-0061626548
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Hannigan's first novel, Ida B . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World was a New York Times bestseller, a Book Sense bestseller, and a Parents' Choice Gold Award winner, and it appeared on more than twenty-five state award lists. She is also the author of a picture book called Emmaline and the Bunny and the novel True (. . . Sort Of).

She (and several wild rabbits) live at the edge of a meadow in northeastern Iowa.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoopalala!, May 15, 2009

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emmaline and the Bunny (Hardcover)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will be a classic memory maker!, March 16, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emmaline and the Bunny (Hardcover)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could you live in Neatasapin?, March 13, 2009

By 

Melissa Sack (georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emmaline and the Bunny (Hardcover)

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.