Book Summary:
A new visitor has arrived at the Monroe household and it is unusual. This bunny has strange markings and fang like teeth. It does not eat its vegetables, but sucks the juice out of them turning them a stark white. Do vampire bunnies exist and is this one of them? The Dog Harold and Cat Chester must determine if the Bunny is actually a vegetable vampire. Then they must alert their family that the new pet isn’t quite what they expect. From Chester starving the poor Bunnicula and Harold trying to make sure the bunny gets food, to then Chester's attempt at steaking the bunny with the actual food hilarity ensues as the family pets try to understand their newest and oddest addition. Bunnicula eventually blends into the family, once it is discovered that vegetable juice is the best diet for him. Everything is back to normal well, as normal as life can be with a vampire bunny as a pet.
APA Citation:
Howe, D., Howe, J., & Daniel, A. (1979). Bunnicula: A rabbit tale of mystery. New York: Antheum
Impressions:
I did not know what to expect when I first picked up this book. A co-worker told me that this book was excellent and I had to read it. I was not expecting to laugh out loud or to finish it in one setting. I do not agree with the review from Kirkus that is listed below. This book has a plot and action and overall it was fun. I fell for Harold and Chester and their plight trying to alert their humans and understand poor Bunnicula. This is a great book to hand to a reluctant reader or really early reader. With the right level of action, humor and language level, this book could be the one book that causes that unengaged reader to engage.
Professional Review: KIRKUS REVIEW
A talking-dog's story of a vampire rabbit. Uhuh, and this is not one of those madcap affairs that has no natural bounds. Dog Harold and his buddy, cat Chester, pride themselves on being ""rather special pets""; after all, Mr. Monroe is a college English professor and Mrs. M. is a lawyer and so everybody is treated with respect for their intelligence. Which isn't, truth to say, always in evidence. Mrs. M., for instance, wants to call every new animal Fluffy--including the bunny found in a shoebox in the movie theater when the family goes to see Dracula. But, voted down, she comes up with ""Bunny-cula. Bunnicula!"" And he not only bears a note in ""an obscure dialect of the Carpathian mountain region"" (intelligible only to Harold), he turns tomatoes, lettuce, even zucchini--white!!! Well, he must be sucking their juices out, Chester decides, ergo a vampire. Chester's efforts to starve poor Bunnicula--after his other attempts to alert the Monroes fail--give these goings-on some semblance of a plot. But it's a pretty feeble bit of foolishness (except, briefly, for the zucchini bit) which winds up with Bunnicula on a liquid diet that leaves no tell-tale signs. Was he or wasn't he? Your guess is as good as ours.
BUNNICULA: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah & James Howe Howe | Kirkus. (1979). Kirkus. Retrieved September 4, 2015. from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/deborah-james-howe-howe/bunnicula-a-rabbit-tale-of-mystery/
Library Uses:
This is a suggestion I am actually going to attempt this fall for my school age storytime. I tend to lean heavily on picture books, but I want to introduce some longer books to my story time this fall. I am going to read a portion of this book at the beginning of my school age storytime. To create a continuation from the last program. I will ask questions about comprehension of the book to see how much they remember from the previous week. I also want to use this activity to promote active listening . I think that the group I currently have (majority of them boys) will be laughing out loud too.
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