Voyage to the Bunny Planet [Box set] [Hardcover]

Rosemary Wells (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Three books--First Tomato, Moss Pillows, and The Island Light--brought together in a sturdy boxed slipcase, are set on the warm and secure Bunny Planet. BOMC.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"It is the first duty of a flagging spirit to seek renewal in the latitudes of whimsy," wrote Benjamin Franklin to his nephew in 1771. "I, for one, dream on beyond the five planets to a world without wickedness; verdant, mild, and populated by amiable lapins [rabbits]." This quotation appears on the title page of First Tomato, one of three engaging books in Rosemary Wells's fabulous Voyage to the Bunny Planet box set. Perhaps Ben Franklin's whimsical dreamland is the inspiration for these endearing, small, perfectly square books, each about a benevolent bunny who has an abominable day and needs to take solace in the kinder, more peaceful Bunny Planet.

In each book--First Tomato, The Island Light, and Moss Pillows--a quirky, adorable, wide-eyed bunny has a terrible day of, say, a meager breakfast, getting sick at school, or snow-filled shoes. When the bunny just can't take it anymore, he or she is transported, Oz-style, to the Bunny Planet to experience "the day that should have been": "Far beyond the moon and stars, / Twenty light-years south of Mars, / Spins the gentle Bunny Planet / And the Bunny Queen is Janet." On this planet only good things happen--the discovery of a large ripe tomato, summer breezes, crackling fires, and making pancakes. Wells, masterful as usual, creates a completely charming universe and perfectly captures the expressions of the despairing-then-joyful bunnies. Youngsters everywhere will take comfort in these small books, perfect for reading aloud at bedtime. Everyone, especially your favorite little bunnies, should know that even on the worst of days, a Bunny Planet is out there somewhere, spinning gently. (Click to see a sample spread. Illustration from The First Tomato by Rosemary Wells. Illustration © 1992 by Rosemary Wells, published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.) (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

About the Author

Rosemary Wells is the popular and award-winning creator of more than 70 books for children, including, those about beloved characters such as Max and Ruby. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Dial (September 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803711743
• ISBN-13: 978-0803711747
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,411,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in New York City, Rosemary Wells grew up in a house "filled with books, dogs, and nineteenth-century music." Her childhood years were spent between her parents' home near Red Bank, New Jersey, and her grandmother's rambling stucco house on the Jersey Shore. Most of her sentimental memories, both good and bad, stem from that place and time. Her mother was a dancer in the Russian Ballet, and her father a playwright and actor. Mrs. Wells says, "Both my parents flooded me with books and stories. My grandmother took me on special trips to the theater and museums in New York. "Rosemary Wells's career as an author and illustrator spans more than 30 years and 60 books. She has won numerous awards, and has given readers such unforgettable characters as Max and Ruby, Noisy Nora, and Yoko. She has also given Mother Goose new life in two enormous, definitive editions, published by Candlewick. Wells wrote and illustrated Unfortunately Harriet, her first book with Dial, in 1972. One year later she wrote the popular Noisy Nora. "The children and our home life have inspired, in part, many of my books. Our West Highland white terrier, Angus, had the shape and expressions to become Benjamin and Tulip, Timothy, and all the other animals I have made up for my stories." Her daughters Victoria and Beezoo were constant inspirations, especially for the now famous "Max" board book series. "Simple incidents from childhood are universal," Wells says. "The dynamics between older and younger siblings are common to all families."But not all of Wells' ideas come from within the family circle. Many times when speaking, Mrs. Wells is asked where her ideas come from. She usually answers, "It's a writer's job to have ideas." Sometimes an idea comes from something she reads or hears about, as in the case of her recent book, Mary on Horseback, a story based on the life of Mary Breckenridge, who founded the Frontier Nursing Service. Timothy Goes to School was based on an incident in which her daughter was teased for wearing the wrong clothes to a Christmas concert. Her dogs, west highland terriers, Lucy and Snowy, work their way into her drawings in expression and body position. She admits, "I put into my books all of the things I remember. I am an accomplished eavesdropper in restaurants, trains, and gatherings of any kind. These remembrances are jumbled up and changed because fiction is always more palatable than truth. Memories become more true as they are honed and whittled into characters and stories."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We love these!, November 22, 1999

By 

Katherine Moss (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voyage to the Bunny Planet (Hardcover)

Such charming little books! I'm asked to read and re-read them by my son , and I'm glad to do it. They are warm and refreshing little tales of how the imagination helps to rejuvenate us when we are tired, cold, loney, bored, or just out of sorts. Imagination,(and art), make us human and give us something no other creature (including "bunnies")has. Kind of like W. Blake's "Songs of Innocence". We'll be rereading these for a long time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We've all had days when we needed a trip to the Bunny Planet, October 13, 1999

By 

Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Voyage to the Bunny Planet (Hardcover)

This are perfect little books. In so few words, Wells lets us experience truly awful days from a child's standpoint, and then lets us see another day that would have been the opposite, a wonderful day. My 5 year old son loves these books, and I think they also send a message to parents---we should strive to give our children more days like the Bunny Planet days, and we should understand that even young children can have very bad days from which they truly need a restoring break.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure magic, September 22, 2002

By 

Maria Goodavage (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voyage to the Bunny Planet (Hardcover)

When we first read The Island Light to our daughter when she was 3 1/2, she was mesmerized and wanted us to read it to her day after day. The peaceful story, the beautiful cadence of the words, and the delightful illlustrations were a joy to look at time and time again.

Particularly inspirational to our girl was Felix's tiny, cozy room in the lighthouse. At the time, our daughter was sleeping in a twin bed in our room, and we weren't sure how we were going to find space in our small house for her own bedroom. (My husband and I both work from home, which didn't help in the "finding a bedroom" problem.) One day she was exploring a closet in another room and noticed it has a window, nice hardwood floors, and could easily fit a little bed and a book shelf. "It could be like Felix's bedroom in the lighthouse!" she exclaimed. So we emptied the crammed closet (no easy feat in a little house!) and transformed it into a cozy room much like Felix's. ... She has been enraptured about that room ever since. We live by the ocean in a fog-prone area, so many nights she even falls asleep to the sound of the foghorn in her "lighthouse room." On nights when she's a little apprehensive to sleep because of seeing/reading something too scary during the day, she'll think of Janet wrapping her arms around her and floating her to the Bunny Planet.

I just now came to Amazon to order the Bunny Planet series (we'd been borrowing them from the library all this time because I couldn't find them at our local book stores), and I am shocked that these magical books are no longer in print. We all need the Bunny Planet sometimes, and I hope a publisher will ... produce these beautiful books once again.