Knuffle Bunny By: Mo Willems

Now that I am a blogaholic I find myself wanting to know more about my favorite authors. I don't know why it never occurred to me before. My daughter Sarah and I have truly enjoyed the books Mo Willems has written. Mo has his own blog and responds to emails and questions posted there. What a great way for Sarah to begin connecting her favorite stories to the real people who wrote them. Anyway, on with my response. Knuffle Bunny is an adorable book for preschoolers and their parents. It is a story about a daddy, his daughter and his daughter's favorite toy. The three of them take a trip to the laundry mat and the toy is lost. Anyone who has children knows how traumatic the loss of a favorite toy can be for a young child. Of course, in "typical" fashion. The daddy doesn't even know why Trixie is upset (she can't speak yet). As soon as the Mommy sees them she asks "Where's Knuffle Bunny?". The whole family races back to the laundromat and Daddy, in heroic fashion, finds Knuffle Bunny. The illustrations are wonderful. The characters are done in a cartoon fashion as is the style of this author. The rest of the illustrations are photographs of Mo's actual neighborhood in Brooklyn New York. The combination of drawings and photos make a very unique visual experience. The fact that the Main character is based on his daughter and the story takes place in his neighborhood gives it another neat dimension. Mo Willems won a Caldecott for his Pigeon book (which I also love), I think he should have won one for this one as well.