Buddy and the Bunnies in: Don’t Play with Your Food! by Bob Shea (review)

There’s no pretense when Buddy the Monster arrives on the scene: “I’m going to eat all you bunnies!” he announces. The bunnies, however, cleverly insist that they were just about to make cupcakes, and they play hide-and-seek with Buddy until the treats are baked, at which point Buddy eats five cupcakes—and then four more—making him too full to eat the bunnies. Each day he returns, and each day the ever-growing group of bunnies distracts Buddy; finally the bunnies remind Buddy that he shouldn’t play with his food—and suggest maybe they can be friends instead. Shea has gained acclaim with boisterous silly/scary protagonists, as in Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (BCCB 10/08), and he hits the same tone with Buddy, a furry Sweetums-esque blob of ochre and orange stripes whose exclamations will induce plenty of chuckles, especially if read aloud (“Hey, guys! Hop in my mouth so I can eat you!”). The illustrations, digitally rendered with rough, oil pastelinspired outlines and autumnal hues of fuchsia, forest green, and violet, augment the exuberance, their shifting viewpoints (one picture looks out from Buddy’s mouth at the rabbits) adding energy. The bunnies—white thumbprints with ears and arms—are both cute and abstract, which adds to their growing goofiness as a group actor. Youngsters will love being in on the bunnies’ sly ways, and this would also pair well with Willems’ Leonardo the Terrible Monster (BCCB 2/05) for a friendly monster readaloud.