Monday, April 30, 2012

Mr and Mrs. Bunny-Detectives Extraordinaire by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath



256 pgs/2012




About the Book: Poor Madeline. All she wants is some new white shoes to attend her school graduation ceremony and accept an award from Prince Charles. It's a very big deal, except her hippie parents don't seem to agree. They're too busy celebrating Luminara. When some foxes need the help of Madeline's code-decoder relative Uncle Runyon, they kidnap Madeline's parents instead, hoping they can lead them to Uncle Runyon's address. Good thing Mrs. and Mrs. have just taken up detective work-all for the fedora, of course. The bunnies are on the case!

HermioneWeasley Says: It's rare that I find a book that appeals to my inner 9-year-old self and my adult self all in one. But that's just what Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-Dectectives Extraordinaire has done.

The satire is hilarious-from mystery novels, to hippie parents, to the long-married Mr. and Mrs. Bunny who have a wonderful banter, there is so much here that will leave adults laughing. But it's not just the adults who will get a kick out of this book. There are plenty of hijinks, silly animals, and twists and turns to delight younger readers. This is a book that made me wish I had a classroom of 4th or 5th graders to read this book aloud to-it's a book that begs to be read by adult and child together.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny cracked me up. Mrs. Bunny is always changing her hobbies and she decides that Mr. and Mrs. Bunny should become detectives, because detectives get to wear fedoras-perfectly reasonable, right? I loved the banter back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-it reminded me a lot of myself and Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan, if we were bunnies, of course. And Madeline is smart (she's read Pride and Prejudice!) and she's the one who ends up telling the adults-human and bunny-what to do. Not in a bossy way, but she just ends up being the logical one. With Madeline leading the quest to find her parents, tween readers will be cheering her on and laughing about the silliness the bunnies find themselves in. Then there's the foxes who are trying to learn English, Madeline's hippie parents, and a marmot who loves garlic bread and really, why aren't you reading this book already??

This one has a nice mix of classic storytelling and satire and it's great for readers of all ages. Add in Sophie Blackall's beautiful illustrations, and you've got a book that you'll want to put on your library shelf right now. Be sure to booktalk this one to your tween readers-and your adult readers!

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