What is a bunny to do when they're born with embarrassingly short ears and they're fiercely rejected by everyone in their warren except for their immediate family? This dilemma propels Bunns, the heroine of this chapter book, into a quest for her identity that's on a mythic scale, complete with riddles, Spirit guardians, alarming mistakes with consequences, and loyal travel companions.
Even though Bunns' mother tells her not to be any attention to the superstitions other rabbits hold about Bunns being a bad omen, things quickly spin out of control. Bunns meets a Spirit Fox who — realizing that Bunns can understand the language of butterflies when they tell riddles — tells her she is not a meadow rabbit. She is further flummoxed when the fox explains that the only way to keep her family safe is to leave their meadow, alone. As happens often throughout the book, she must decide whether to trust him and what to do — big tasks for an inexperienced bunny!
Her journeys take her far and wide, into some pretty desperate situations, where her unusual ability to hear the heartsongs of others becomes a lifeline and she makes a few staunch friends willing to accompany her, in Oz-like fashion. Her courage to keep going and keep trying even when facing insurmountable obstacles like a terrible fire or isolation on an island serve as inspiration for anyone who's different and seeks to find their way.
Within the main story and its compelling paintings, author and illustrator Alan Barillaro places short, graphic-novel-style interludes that provide backstories and essential mythology of this world he's creating. Judging by the ending of this book, he's setting up for a sequel, which we imagine will be eagerly anticipated by middle-grade readers of Bunns Rabbit.
Barillaro is the Academy-Award-winning writer and director of the short film Piper and has been supervising animator on many other popular theatrical releases, including The Incredibles, and Incredibles 2, WALL-E, and Brave. He is also the author and illustrator of the middle-grade novel Where the Water Takes Us.
