Bunns Rabbit by Alan Barillaro

What worked:

Bunns is a lovable, underdog character. Her short ears immediately make her different, and her parents are overly protective. They know the other rabbits are superstitious, and they don’t know how the Elders will react to her appearance. Bunns’ innocence and naiveté will cause readers to develop warm feelings for her and worry about her well-being. Bunns displays unexpected bravery when she leaves home alone to protect the rest of her family. Her curiosity, friendliness, and trust guide her through the forest, which she’s been told never to enter. Lingering insecurities complicate her life. Her adventure into the unknown soon becomes a quest to save the land and water.

The book’s format is unique, as it combines elements of a novel and a graphic novel. Side stories use many illustrations with accompanying brief text to describe the action. Several of these segments share folklore to establish the history of the world and introduce the Spirit Fox character. The main narrative often sounds like the retelling of a tale about Bunns and the Spirit of Land and Fire. All creatures fear the fox and are sure he will eat them or burn down the forest. However, the Spirit Fox takes an interest in Bunns, and their initial meeting takes on a friendly tone. However, Bunns inadvertently does something to anger the fox, and the rest of the story finds Bunn fleeing for her life. Will she be able to atone for her mistake in time to save everyone she cares for?

Bunns’ heartsong is an important element of the plot. It allows Bunns to sense others’ heartsongs and determines if they can be trusted or should be feared. All rabbits can hear each other’s heartsongs, but Bunns has a rare ability to hear the songs in other types of animals. No one has ever heard of that happening before. Rabbits and birds are not allowed to associate with each other, but Bunns becomes best friends with a hummingbird named Bee. She also befriends a loon they call Loon, and the three characters support each other with numerous challenges. Monarch butterflies always flock around the Spirit Fox, but Bunns is the only character able to hear the riddles that they sing. Bunns can’t figure them out, but they’re the key to resolving the plot’s main conflict.

What didn’t work as well:

It might be challenging to determine the appropriate target audience for this book. Bunns is a sweet, cute bunny, but that may not interest older readers. However, the story has deeper meanings and thinking that younger readers won’t understand.

The final verdict:

The deeper message in the story makes this book more fascinating than readers might first expect.  The adorableness of Bunns makes her very likable and relatable, and readers will root for her to overcome her issues with being different. I highly recommend you try this book for yourself.