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Battle Bunny
Author:
Scieszka, Jon
CoAuthor:
Barnett, Mac
Illustrator:
Myers, Matthew
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Class:
Easy
Age: 5-8
Language: English
Descriptors: Picture Book
Demand: Moderate
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LC: PZ7.S412
Grade: K-3
Print Run: 50000
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ISBN-13: 9781442446731
LCCN: 2012025515
Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Pub Date: 10/22/2013
Availability: Available
List: $17.99
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 25 cm.
H 9.25",
W 6.75",
D 0.4",
0.6 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's For Youth Interest Titles
Brodart's For Youth Interest: Popular
Brodart's Fresh Reads for Kids TIPS Selections
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Children
Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Children's Core Collection, 22nd ed.
Children's Core Collection, 23rd ed.
Children's Core Collection, 24th ed.
New York Times Bestsellers List
New York Times Bestsellers: Children's Picture Books
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Awards:
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BCCB Blue Ribbons
BCCB Starred Reviews
Booklist Starred Reviews
Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
Kirkus Starred Reviews
Notable Children's Books, ALA
Publishers Weekly Annual Best Books Selections
Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews
School Library Journal Starred Reviews
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Starred Reviews:
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Booklist
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal
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TIPS Subjects:
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Animals
Humorous Fiction
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BISAC Subjects: |
JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Imagination & Play
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LC Subjects:
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Birthdays, Fiction
Birthdays, Juvenile fiction
Forest animals, Fiction
Forest animals, Juvenile fiction
Humorous stories
Parties, Fiction
Parties, Juvenile fiction
Rabbits, Fiction
Rabbits, Juvenile fiction
Supervillains, Fiction
Supervillains, Juvenile fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Birthdays, Fiction
Forest animals, Fiction
Humorous fiction
Parties, Fiction
Rabbits, Fiction
Supervillains, Fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Lexile Level:
540
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles | 09/01/2013 |
| Alex sets out to fix his grandma's lame gift when he takes a pencil and puts his own spin on a sickly sweet picture book that his grandma discovered at some garage sale. Forget Birthday Bunny…meet Battle Bunny! 32pp., Color Ill. |
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| Starred Reviews: |
| Booklist | 10/01/2013 |
| Grades K-5. This deliciously subversive piece of metafiction skewers--with a sharp wit and a sharper pencil--the earnest, purposeful literature so popular in the middle of the last century. The fun begins with a facsimile of something akin to an antique Little Golden Book, Birthday Bunny, complete with worn cover, yellowed pages, and wholesome message. But the book has been "improved" in story and pictures by a child named Alex wielding his trusty no. 2. The cover, retitled Battle Bunny, now features rockets, planes, bombs, and a general promise of mayhem. And Alex keeps that promise, transforming the insipid story of a sad bunny being cheered by his friends on his birthday into a raucous adventure wherein an evil bunny unleashes a tornado of destruction on the unsuspecting forest until the president is forced to call in one Agent Alex to save the day. Alex's "edits," including a complete reworking of the text and plenty of pictorial embellishments, are soaked in testosterone. The animals of the forest become luchadores and ninja warriors; Air Force One and a few presidents (Obama and Lincoln) make appearances; and just about everything explodes. In the end, Alex is victorious, Battle Bunny is vanquished, and the world is safe. At least until Alex and his pencil ride again . . . Barthelmess, Thom. 32p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2013. |
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| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 12/01/2013 |
| R. Gr. 1-3. Every librarian and teacher has seem them, those saccharine early reader series whose desperate inclusion of Things Kids Like is merely a crutch for the didactic intent of helping little ones learn sight words and to sound out more complex vocabulary. So has Alexander, whose Gran Gran has given him a copy of Birthday Bunny--whose “worn” back cover reveals that it’s part of the “Adorable Bunny Collection”--for his own special day. The simple, schoolbook story of a bunny who’s sad because he believes all his friends have forgotten his birthday doesn’t appeal to Alex, though, so he’s spiced it up with plot twists and illustrations all his own. Scratching out words from the printed text and replacing them with his own boisterous vocabulary, Alex has chosen instead to make this book about the Battle Bunny, who decides that his birthday is the perfect time to put his Evil Plan into action. Battle Bunny forges ahead and destroys each of his enemies (formerly Birthday Bunny’s friends): Sgt. Squirrel of the Robot Police Force is taken down when his robot killer bees (“Ready to sting your butt and save the forest!!”) are no match for Battle Bunny’s chainsaws, and Shaolin Bear and Ninja Turtle’s 1,103 fighting styles are demolished by Battle Bunny’s 1,104. A scribbled-in president (who’s sometimes Barack Obama, sometimes Abraham Lincoln) pleads with a doodle Alex to save the day; Alex obliges by revealing that today is also his birthday, and Battle Bunny concedes: “[Alex], You have [defeat]surprised me with the greatest birthday present[owers].” It’s a metafictional farce, but it’s wickedly subversive in all the ways that will appeal to kids, and it’s remarkably realistic in capturing the inevitable graffiti of childhood. The stilted cutesiness of Birthday Bunny is an amusing parody in itself, but Alex’s emendation choices are hilariously effective as he deftly repurposes initial letters, gram-matical markers, and short chunks of text to tell a very different kind of story (“‘[F]Greetings[ze], Bunny,’ said Badger. ‘[Stop] Why are you [c]hopping so [m]sadly?[!] Today is special day.’[you face El Tejon, the greatest wrestler!!]”). The youthful over-the-top hyperbole captures all of the clichés of kids’ action tales with gloriously overstated comedy. The resulting text is thus an honest reflection of the ways kids interact with books--in a way that’s accessible to kids themselves--as well as a complexly layered work of comic genius. The oil and pencil illustrations of Birthday Bunny are blandly adorable, with splotchy lines and muted colors reminiscent of vintage basal reader illustrations here set appropriately against pages seemingly yellowed with age. Contrast that art with Alex’s additions, which are scratchy doodles in thick black pencil, complete with speech bubbles and comics-style onomatopoeia, that transform the wide-eyed, floppy-eared, and button-nosed bunny into a fierce dictator, complete with angry eyebrows, an eye patch, a scar on his ear, and a World Wrestling Federation belt. Alex has left no stone unturned--or un-defaced--in this world, with even innocent bystanding trees getting marked up with scars or toppled by chainsaw in the wake of Battle Bunny’s path of destruction. By the end of the book, Alex’s narrative requirements make Birthday Bunny all but illegible, with one page’s text block near the end of the book completely marked out, replacing Birthday Bunny’s moping with the president’s interaction with Alex in a graphic narrative.
This is an example of exactly how kids are told not to interact with their books--and that’s what makes it so effective....Review exceeds allowable length. Thaddeus Andracki. 32p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2013. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 09/01/2013 |
| What if a creative, military-obsessed kid took a pencil and went to town on a boring old book? This bold premise will cause some eye-popping as the Don't Write In Books rule is gleefully violated. Scieszka and Barnett's story is laid over a particularly saccharine and tepid picture book, a gift from Gran Gran to Alexander for his birthday. "Everybody needs a Special Thinking Place," the text coos. "Where is your Special Thinking Place?" In the foundation story, Birthday Bunny anticipates birthday gifts, finds that his friends have forgotten, pouts, gets a surprise party and learns a lesson. Myers' underlying oil paintings--some covering a whole page, others oval-shaped on faded cream paper that's yellowing at the edges--feel decidedly old-fashioned. But neither prose nor pictures are safe from the pencil bandit. Copious words and fragments of words are struck through (though all remain clearly legible), with new words and letters hand-printed above. Careful, childlike pencil drawings (realistically smudged) enhance and completely reflavor the original paintings. Birthday Bunny is given an eye patch and a WWF belt, becoming Battle Bunny: "I am going to whomp on you, bird brain, and pluck you like a sick chicken!" Bunny's weapons include megatron bombs and robot killer bees. "He went back to digging" becomes "He went down for the count." An enthusiastically taboo, devil-may-care outing for combat fans--and a great writing inspiration to use on old books headed for the bin. (Picture book. 5-10). 32pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2013. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 08/05/2013 |
| Ages 5-9. Scieszka and Barnett wonder what would happen if the young recipient of a dorky picture book, Birthday Bunny, decided to... improve its treacly text and soppy pictures, and make himself the hero to boot. Scrawling in pencil over the original story and its creamy, vintage-style oil images, Alex rechristens the book's main character, Birthday Bunny, as Battle Bunny, turning the floppy-eared cutie into a helmeted, eye patch-wearing, saw-wielding global nemesis, complete with an Evil Plan and knowledge of 1,104 fighting styles. "Today is Judgment day!" announces one of Battle Bunny's friends-turned-foes. "Yes it is," replies the warmongering rabbit. "Judgment day for you!!!" Can anyone stop Battle Bunny? How about a certain boy who's very good with a pencil? Kids should absolutely not try this at home (at least not with library books), but they'll get plenty of vicarious laughs out of Alex's changes, which becomes so extensive and freewheeling that the original book (about an innocuous forest surprise party) is all but illegible. A hilarious and transgressive story with a clear message: Don't suffer schlock. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.). 32p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013. |
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| School Library Journal | 11/01/2013 |
| Gr 1-3--Alex is clearly too old for the sappy picture book that his Gran Gran gives him for his birthday. Originally entitled Birthday Bunny, about a bunny who thinks his friends have forgotten his birthday, he spices it up by changing the title to Battle Bunny and making the main character an evil carrot-eating mastermind that is trying to take over the world. The boy also changes the dialogue frequently. For example, the crossed out text says, "Everybody needs a Special Thinking Place where they can think their best thoughts. Where is your Special Thinking Place?" The new, much-improved and hilarious text reads, "Everybody needs an Evil Plan Place where they can launch their Evil Plans. Where is your Evil Plan Place?" The tweaks to the oil and pencil illustrations, such as adding an eye patch and WWF wresting belt to the bunny, are priceless. This is a perfect book to give independent readers who are looking for something a little different. The unique layout and design will inspire creativity in readers. Brooke Rasche, La Crosse Public Library, WI. 32p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| BookPage | 11/01/2013 |
| Ages 5-9. Books about bunnies are sweet, right? Not one that's created by the imaginative team of Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales), Mac Barnett (Extra Yarn) and illustrator Matthew Myers (Clink). Their irreverent picture book, originally titled Birthday Bunny, starts out harmlessly enough with an inscription from Gran Gran to Alex, wishing her "little birthday bunny" a special day. But in this testament to daydreaming kids everywhere, Alex has another story to tell. The boy scratches through the printed type of grandma's gift book and fills in his own words, turning Birthday Bunny into Battle Bunny! With his super birthday powers, Battle Bunny will put his Evil Plan into action. Where once an adorable cotton-tailed bunny was hopping through the forest, now an eye-patch-wearing bunny with a saw in hand--thanks to Alex's improvised pencil sketches--makes his way, chopping through the trees. And instead of meeting his woodland friends, Badger, Squirrel, Bear and Turtle, he battles the president's special forces: El Tejon, the great wrestler, Sgt. Squirrel, Shaolin Bear and Ninja Turtle. The animals are not the only characters fighting to determine the world's fate, however. Alex draws himself into the story, working alongside the president to help stop Battle Bunny. As Alex's imagination goes into full force, his edits and drawings become bigger and bolder. When the defeated woodland animals gather for Bunny's birthday . . . err, world domination, Alex remembers that he has special birthday powers, too. Celebrating a birthday or saving the world--both give reasons to cheer. After cheering, readers will want to reread this clever retelling to savor the meticulous attention given to both text and illustration, from menacing eyebrows to megatron bombs. Parents, on the other hand, will rethink keeping any art supplies near beloved books. Angela Leeper. 32pg. BOOKPAGE, c2013. |
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| Horn Book | 11/01/2013 |
| Primary, Intermediate. Gran Gran has (in a beautiful Palmer hand) inscribed this copy of Birthday Bunny to Alex, but the boy clearly has mischief on his mind and time on his hands, thoroughly repurposing the sappy story and pictures through the liberal application of a good ol' number 2 (pencil). Thus Birthday Bunny becomes Battle Bunny; his breakfast of carrot juice and a bowl of Carrot Crispies becomes brain juice and a bowl of greasy guts; and his poignant longing for a birthday party becomes a bloodthirsty quest for world domination. It's all very clever and even wise about the divide between what grownups think kids should like and what they actually do, but neither joke nor point can comfortably stretch to thirty-two pages, and Birthday Bunny itself is a straw man, purpose-built to be defaced. Still, expect this to be something of a novelty hit among the man-children in your life. roger sutton. 32pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2013. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 05/01/2014 |
| 4. Gran Gran has inscribed this copy of Birthday Bunny to Alex. The mischievous boy repurposes the sappy story and pictures through the liberal application of number 2 (pencil). It's all very clever and even wise about the divide between what grownups think kids should like and what they actually do, but neither joke nor point comfortably stretch to thirty-two pages. rs. 32pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014. |
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9781442446731,dl.it[0].title
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