Missing: One Stuffed Rabbit [Hardcover]

Maryann Cocca-Leffler (Author, Illustrator), Abby Levine (Editor)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

After losing Coco the class pet at a shopping mall, second-grader Janine learns that the stuffed rabbit has mistakenly been given as part of a toy distribution at a local hospital.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2AMrs. Robin's second grade class pet, Coco, a stuffed rabbit, has a journal. A drawing is held each day to see who Coco will go home with, and this time the lucky winner is Janine, who will be able to keep the toy for the whole weekend. She is also the one who will get to contribute Coco's journal entry, written from his point of view. Janine takes Coco everywhere with her, and even reads him a bedtime story. But the next day, when she sits down to lunch with her family after a long day at the mall, she realizes that the toy is lost and must face her classmates without him on Monday. The children all pitch in to find him, and eventually they doAjust as he is being given to a child at a local hospital. The class decides that the girl needs Coco more than they do, and Janine writes his final journal entry about his new home and new name. Bold, colorful gouache and colored-pencil illustrations, some of which are framed in a notebooklike print, are appealing, as is the totally satisfying conclusion.ADeAnn Tabuchi, San Anselmo Public Library, CA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-8. The pride of Mrs. Robin's second-grade class, the stuffed rabbit Coco goes home with one of the students each night, and the lucky child gets to write the visit's events in Coco's voice, in Coco's diary. But when it's poor Janine's turn, she loses Coco in the mall, and despite a frantic search and posters with Coco's picture, the rabbit remains gone. Finally, the second-graders realize that a toy drive at the mall might mean that Coco has wound up at the children's ward of a local hospital. Sure enough, a wheelchair-bound girl gets Coco, which, the kids realize, belongs with its new owner. They'll miss Coco, but in a last communique, the rabbit assures them that it will keep in touch. Cute and clever, this is so full of fun graphic elements children will look at it again and again. The jacket design looks like Coco's diary, an effect carried out on the pages' borders, and the inside pages of the diary are reproduced in the hand printing of various class members. There is plenty to look at here--and sharp eyes will spot where and when Coco gets lost. Ilene Cooper

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807551619
• ISBN-13: 978-0807551615
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,422,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Website: www.maryanncoccaleffler.com
My PLAY: www.princesskimthemusical.com
my Blog: www.maryanncoccaleffler.blogspot.com

I've been writing and illustrating children's books for more than 25 years and have published over 50 books. I graduated from Massachusetts College of Art in 1980 with a BFA in illustration. My Italian childhood sneaks into my books. The first book I wrote and illustrated was "Wednesday is Spaghetti Day". My books "Bus Route to Boston" and "Clams All Year" are family stories which I hold dear to my heart. Recent books include "Rain Brings Frogs-A Little Book of Hope" ,"Princess K.I.M and the Lie that Grew" and "Princess Kim and Too Much Truth", which are currently being made into Pristin K.I.M The Musical. Broadway here I come! Please keep checking my website and blog to see my new books or learn news about upcoming projects. I live and work in NH where I write and illustrate on an average of two books a year. I have two wonderful daughters and a supportive husband who are the first ones to see my ideas (love to torture them!).
I'd love to hear from you.
Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars pretty good rabbit story, March 9, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Missing: One Stuffed Rabbit (Paperback)

Missing one stuffed rabbit is about a girl who takes coco the rabbit home for the weekend. She lost it in the mall. Coco was found in the childrens hospital with a girl who needed him more than the class. As a class we thought this was good but not the best. We really enjoyed the journal entries. We didn't like him getting lost but we understand it was important to the story.