Lunch Bunnies [Hardcover]

Kathryn Lasky (Author), Marylin Hafner (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996 | Age Level: 4 and up

In an amusing tale of first-day-of-school jitters, Clyde is excited about his school but has fears about lunchtime, worrying that no one will sit with him, but when the time approaches, his fears are quickly put to rest.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Mystery goosh" is a term we can all associate with some cafeteria or other. In Lunch Bunnies, it describes the cafeteria that Clyde, a first grader on his first day of school, must face. He has heard about the dreaded gruel and tyrannical lunchroom staff from his older brother. Rising above his fears, Clyde does fine in the lunchroom and even has the opportunity to share his strength with a classmate, Rosemary, who slips in a puddle of juice and goes flying. (Ages 4 to 8)

From Publishers Weekly

What if he spills soup all over his tray? What if no one wants to sit with him? On his first day of first grade, Clyde is terrified of lunchtime, and his merciless older brother, Jefferson, who tells him that the school cooks will make him eat "mystery goosh," doesn't help. Even worse, says Jefferson, are the scolding, scratchy-voiced "lunch ladies." After a morning of dread, Clyde finally has to face the ordeal of the cafeteria which?no surprise?is far less intimidating than he'd feared. But his classmate Rosemary fares less well: she skids on spilled juice, sending her Jell-O cubes bouncing across the floor. The sympathetic Clyde not only helps her clean up the mess, but joins his new friend at a table. Lasky makes her reassuring tale all the more realistic by adding this minor mishap, showing kids who share Clyde's apprehensions that such incidents can turn out okay. Hafner's bustling illustrations imbue the characters with a great deal of personality, especially the incessantly wide-eyed Clyde; lunch lady Gloria, whose rabbit ears poke out of a hairnet as she chews out snickering fourth-graders; and perky Rosemary. Readers will line up for seconds. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown; 1st edition (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316515256
• ISBN-13: 978-0316515252
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,005,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for kids going from kindergarten to 1st grade!, June 29, 2001

By 

Rocco B. Rubino "Rocco R." (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunch Bunnies (Paperback)

I absolutely adore books like this because they take a lighthearted, yet sensitive look at concerns that are very real in the minds of small children as they enter school.

Lunch Bunnies is the story of a little boy named Clyde who harbors an irrational fear of making a fool out of himself on his first day of school, in the lunchroom. Anyone with small children can instantly relate how Clyde becomes obsessive with doing the lunchroom thing right!

The night before his first day at a new school, Clyde is seen "practicing" by carrying a tray of food. Of course there is a big brother present (Jefferson)who does his best to plant seeds of doubt in Clyde's mind and delights in tormenting the poor lad with stories of inedible food ("Mystery Goosh), and the ubiquitous lunch ladies with "bristly" faces who have all of the charm and caring of a Third World Dictator. Poor Clyde is scared to death!

My favorite part of the book was when it was time for the children to queue up, and proceed into the lunchroom. As a teacher of small children myself, I can't help but wonder if the author is not poking gentle fun at the anality of the lunchroom ritual, where children must quietly, in monk-like manner, line up and process orderly, much as inmates are required to in correctional centers.

Nevertheless, this book was a hit with my 10 year old daughter when she first started school, and it is a hit with my son, who will start first grade this fall. All children, and even some of us adults, have irrational fears that we blow way out of proportion. But the message of Lunch Bunnies, a message adults would do well to heed, is that nothing is as bad as we imagine it, and things always seem to work out just fine.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it.. back to school tradition, August 25, 2011

By 

Staceylin31 "Staceylin31" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunch Bunnies (Paperback)

Love this book and read it to my kids every year before the first day of school.. Ok.. so they're in high school now and roll their eyes... but it's fun :o) Just don't understand the rationale behind the prices of the books by 'other sellers'($70+????).
That's just sick greed.

5.0 out of 5 stars good book, November 2, 2008

By 

Jon Pedersen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lunch Bunnies (Hardcover)

Our daughter loved the book. Was a little scared of the lunchroom. Better now. Thanks