"National Book Award-winner Polly Horvath's latest, a rabbity romp complete with whimsical illustrations and a quirky cast of characters, has both the look and feel of a classic children's book," raves The Washington Post.
In this hilarious chapter book mystery, meet a girl whose parents have been kidnapped by disreputable foxes, and a pair of detectives that also happen to be bunnies! When Madeline gets home from school one afternoon to discover that her parents have gone missing, she sets off to find them. So begins a once-in-a-lifetime adventure involving a cast of unforgettable characters. There's Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, who drive a smart car, wear fedoras, and hate marmots; the Marmot, who loves garlic bread and is a brilliant translator; and many others. Translated from the Rabbit by Newbery Honor-winning author Polly Horvath, and beautifully illustrated by Sophie Blackall, here is a book that kids will both laugh over and love.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Hilarious book....those who didn't read past Chapter 1 totally missed the joke
By W. Black
After reading the 1 star reviews of this book, I have come to a new understanding of the deliberate ignorance of some people.The outrages over what the character Flo about "redistribution of wealth", against the monarchy, against grading, etc. were not praises of those values, but character development for the heroine's parents. If they had read on, they would have seen that the "hippies" Flow and Mildred were in fact satirized as out-of-touch, even burn-out types and that it was Madeline, the daughter who went to public school and wanted to be like the other children, who took care of them.To think that Horvath was trying to "propagandize" from a leftist perspective is about as back-asswards as it gets, but typical of some of the right who have no sense of satire or irony unless it's done with a Limbaugh hammer. In fact, in one particular scene, the "bunny government" is feared by the Bunnies in a manner most libertarian.Politics aside, the book is quite funny and age-appropriate for eight-nine years old and up. There is an easy transition from our "real world" to the world of the bunnies and foxes (anthropomorphized of course). The jokes are light and airy. The "mystery" is almost irrelevant as it's just a fun romp.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Read beyond Chapter 1, people, and give kids credit for not being as literal as adults--this book is hysterical!
By Zedzebra
I'm pretty astonished to arrive here and find people's knickers in a twist over chapter 1. My goodness, it was clear as day to me, a left-of-center person, that the author was NOT promulgating a left-wing agenda but rather mocking the sort of people who lose sight of the essence of something and bury their head in meaningless, rote, and showy patterns of holier-than-thou behavior--something that people from any religion or political stripe can do.The first chapter sets the tone for poor Madeline's situation--SHE is the "adult" in the family, not the leftover-from-Haight-Ashbury wanderers who are older than her. We are not supposed to sympathize with these parents who won't go to their child's graduation, not agree with them!Poor author, can't believe she's been so misunderstood...but then again I'm sure she thought people would have the maturity to read past chapter 1.Anyway. I loved this book. Laughed a lot. Wished my daughter were young again so I could read it aloud to her. She's a teenager and pretty busy so understandably won't let me do that though she did laugh over the outtakes I read to her.It's TOTALLY absurd, and very clever. Kids will either get the jokes now, or at least appreciate the absurdity, and then later on the references to things beyond their ken will "click" and they'll laugh anew.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.Light-hearted and funny
By K Harper
My 9 year old struggles to find books that are sweet without being saccharine, adventurous without being too scary. This book takes the overdone trope of girl who has to rescue her parents and makes it hysterically funny. She started reading it herself, wanted to read me the funniest lines, and before long we were reading it as a family because everyone was enjoying it so much. I do agree with the other reviewers that some of the humor is probably a little too satirical for young readers, and that the plot don't follow the normal rhythms; instead it's lots of diversions and then a wham bang everything at once ending. But we enjoyed it so much; it's a book where the humor comes first and at times seems to be mocking the usual kiddie lit formula.
