Customer Reviews

Emmaline and the Bunny

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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.

I have not personally seen this book, but I sent it to my 7-year-old granddaughter who just happens to be named Emmaline. She sent me a wonderful thank you note with her hand-drawn picture of the book and a note "I just loooooooove this book!" So with that enthusiastic and authentic response to a special birthday present, I think I can say this is a great book for a 7-year-old.

I can't say enough about this book. When my daughter first received it as a gift she fell utterly in love with it and insisted we read it 5 times in a row. She was then 3 years old. Since then we've read it numerous times and given it as a gift to a number of her friends. With short chapters and gorgeous illustrations it would also make a perfect early chapter book for beginning readers.

Told in clever, sparkling language, Emmaline's quest for a bunny friend to match her own wild spirit reads almost like a song. The quirky and expressive made-up words that Emmaline uses are a special delight, and will encourage children to experiment and play with language--to make it untidy in the most creative sense. Indeed, that's exactly what my daughter did after reading it for the first time.

Another joy is that Emmaline's path isn't simple. Indeed, even once she finds her special bunny, her ignorance of the wild world puts her new friend in harms way. She learns that she must make herself and her world safe for the bunny before it can trust her again and accept her invitation.

All these wonderful qualities, combined with the sweetness and simplicity of the illustrations, make this a gem of a book that will delight time and again. Even adults may find themselves enchanted. "Emmaline and the Bunny" is the perfect tonic for a hard day in our concrete world. A couple of times now, on my way up to bed, I've snagged it from the bookshelf and gratefully let it sing me to sleep.

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.

Emmaline is a young girl living in a gray, concrete town. No trees, wild animals, or non-standard behavior is allowed. However, Emmaline is different. She dresses in color and wants a wild bunny, as a pet.

This book a a great early read-aloud. Almost every page has beautiful, author illustrated pictures, and the text is very poetical. The author is not afraid to invent quite a few nonsense words to keep the rhythm.

I really enjoyed reading it to my young child.