Big Bad Bunny

At first glance, Big Bad Bunny seems like a creature that haunts the dreams of sleeping children: Fearlessly crossing mucky swamps and rushing streams (Big Bad Bunny can go anywhere), the monster has furiously knitted eyebrows, razor-sharp talons and knifelike teeth. But Big Bad Bunny is actually Baby Boo-Boo, the third child of sweet Mama Mouse. Dressed in a bunny suit, the little mouse has run away. Mama Mouse, however, is less meek and dainty than she appears; thoroughly undaunted by swamps and the rest (she will go anywhere for Baby Boo-Boo), she pursues and tames the ferocious Big Bad Bunny with no loss of face on her child's part. In her first picture book, Billingsley ("Well Wished") extends her plot with satisfying onomatopoeia; the oversize format, too, marks this for a readaloud. Karas ("Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!") strategically deploys mixed-media to render the id-gone-wild scenes with comic abandon, often ramping up the mouse's Sturm und Drang so that it energizes an entire spread. The slyly delicate portraits of Mama Mouse, meanwhile, both articulate and defuse the fear that a parent may wither in the face of a child's emotional turmoil. Together, Karas and Billingsley walk the fine line between empathy and comedy. They grant Baby Boo-Boo and her alter ego the right to act out, at the same time assuring readers that there will always be a place for them at home. Ages 4-8. "(Mar.)" Copyright 2008 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 1Big Bad Bunny is fierce, with long sharp claws and pointy yellow teeth. Nothing can stop her-not a rushing stream, a mucky swamp, not even "thick, tangly bushes]. Big Bad Bunny can go anywhere." Glimpses of this fearsome creature alternate with scenes of Mama Mouse putting her babies to bed. When she discovers that one is missing, she goes off in search of her little one. She, too, crosses through the stream, the swamp, and the bushes, for "Mama Mouse will go anywhere for Baby Boo-Boo." Then she hears a howling: Big Bad Bunny has finally been stopped by a steep hill and the realization that she's lost. Mama Mouse is thrilled to find Baby Boo-Boo, even as the youngster shouts that she's not a baby, she's Big Bad Bunny. Mama plays along and they walk home hand-in-hand. Readers can now see that Big Bad Bunny is a mouse in a bunny costume. The illustrations, set against creamy pages, are done in gouache and acrylic with pencil. Karas uses exaggerated features and bright background colors to make the close-ups of Big Bad Bunny quite menacing. But as the book progresses, her scariness erodes until she's back at home in her mouse bed. This is a perfect choice for children who have felt big and bad one minute, and in need of their mothers the next."Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI" Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.