Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that the sketchy illustrations are incidental, but a wacky plot sprinkled with goofy one-liners will captivate kids from the great title to the last page.
Families can talk about bunnies going bad. Why is it funny instead of scary? Can you think of other creatures that would make terrible zombies or closet monsters or boogie men?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: S. K. List
If the bunny bit isn't a clue, understand: For a book about a vampire, this is extremely mild. Even so, kids with even a smidgeon of attraction to horror will gobble this book up. For over 20 years, they already have. One typical older fan remembers the book vividly: "It's a great book. It's funny, creative, and just silly enough not to be stupid. The animals are well characterized, too, in the way they talk."
That characterization is important because there's not much plot. At the story's heart are the nervous but intelligent Chester and his down-to-earth chum, Harold. If they go their separate ways over the dangers the fanged bunny brings into their home, their differences are resolved in the end, with the vampire mystery lingering just enough to support -- a sequel! In fact, several of them.
The lighthearted inspiration that, as the biographical essay explains, led the Howes almost to daydream this book into reality shines through its pages, charming and amusing the reader. Especially Harold: "[Chester] is not your ordinary cat. (But then, I'm not your ordinary dog, since an ordinary dog wouldn't be writing this book, would he?)" Or "I have developed a taste for books. I found Jonathan Livingston Seagull particularly delicious."
Thousands of kids have given this book their approval, and they're sure to be joined by thousands more -- with good reason.
Plot Summary:
Is the bunny hutch harboring a vampire? The Monroes' pets are on patrol for the answer. Farcical and highly readable, this book wins its audience with silly situations, an amiable flirtation with daring subject matter, and eccentric behavior dropped into a conventional setting.
Related Books:
More in the Series:
Howliday Inn
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
Bunnicula Strikes Again!
Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow
And many more!
More Silly Scares:
Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey
Kat Kong by Dav Pilkey
Mommy? by Maurice Sendak
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|
|
|
ViolenceOne silly scene where the cat attempts to dispatch Bunnicula by pounding a steak (get it?) into his heart. |
|
|
 |
|
Language |
|
|
|
|
Message |
|
|
|
|
Social Behavior |
 |
|
|
|
Commercialism |
|
|
|
|
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|
|
|
