Rescue Bunnies

by Doreen Cronin, Scott Menchin (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet Newbie, a Rescue Bunny Trainee.

She has passed her physical fitness test. She has passed her emergency roping test. Now it′s time for the toughest test of all: the Field test. There is a giraffe in a mud hole who is sinking fast. A pack of hyenas is fast approaching. Will Newbie have what it takes to save the day?

Told in her signature deadpan (and hilarious) style, RESCUE BUNNIES is an exciting new picture book from #1 New York Times bestselling author Doreen Cronin that is sure to appeal to fans of CLICK, CLACK, MOO and her DIARY OF... series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062066695
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/07/2010
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Doreen Cronin is the New York Times bestselling author of Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, and Diary of a Fly as well as Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, a Caldecott Honor Book, and Giggle, Giggle, Quack. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their daughters.

Scott Menchin is the author and illustrator of the Christopher Award-winning Taking a Bath with the Dog as well as the illustrator of four books with Doreen Cronin, rescue bunnies, Wiggle, Bounce, and Stretch. His work has appeared in the New York Times and Time magazine. He lives with his family in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Newbie, the aptly named trainee of the tough-minded Rescue Bunnies, is eager to prove she has what it takes to become a full-fledged member. She gets her chance when a giraffe gets stuck in the mud in the middle of hyena country. There’s just one more thing Newbie needs to know: if the hyenas get too close, the bunnies call a Code Red. “Evacuation,” explains a crew member. “We leave, giraffe stays.” Will Newbie save the day--or just her own skin? Menchin’s crisp digital images initially feel too juvenile given the premise (the rabbits seem more mouselike than rabbity), and Cronin (who collaborated with Menchin on Wiggle, Bounce, and Stretch) relies on a surprising number of tired gags and movie quotes (everything from “You can’t handle the truth!” to “Here’s looking at you, kid”) to give the Rescue Bunnies a whiff of hard-boiled irreverence. But once the Rescue Bunnies get on the scene, and Newbie bonds with the stranded giraffe, the comic melodrama kicks into high gear. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Cronin’s story feels like an actual story, complete with mini plot arcs, fast parts, slow parts, and character development—a nice change from the fast dash of most picture books.” — Booklist

“Cronin and Menchin team up again to bring slapstick humor, impeccable timing, and cheesy movie quotes to this rousing tale of bravery, determination, and knowing when to do the Bunny Hop.” — The Horn Book

“Cronin and Menchin (Stretch, 2009, etc.) team up once again in this humorous tale that oddly-yet quite successfully-combines the message of perseverance, the importance of rescue workers and sly nods to adult readers along the way.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Cronin’s story feels like an actual story, complete with mini plot arcs, fast parts, slow parts, and character development—a nice change from the fast dash of most picture books.

Booklist

Cronin and Menchin team up again to bring slapstick humor, impeccable timing, and cheesy movie quotes to this rousing tale of bravery, determination, and knowing when to do the Bunny Hop.

The Horn Book

Cronin’s story feels like an actual story, complete with mini plot arcs, fast parts, slow parts, and character development—a nice change from the fast dash of most picture books.

Booklist

PreS-Gr 2—In her field-test trial, Newbie joins the rest of her big-booted rescue team in trying to extract a young giraffe from a pool of muck on a savanna. Nothing works. Complicating the rescue and threatening a "Code Red" (abandon rescue and victim) is an incoming band of evil-looking hyenas. When Newbie realizes that the giraffe she is comforting will be at the mercy of the ravening pack, she ties herself onto its neck and the other team members use the rhythm of the "bunny hop" to pull the leggy creature free. The plot meanders lazily and illogically from a behind-the-scenes look at Newbie's training, to the bumbling rescue attempts, to a somewhat longish section of indecision while the hyenas gallop in as the bunnies burble and chat. Scattered throughout the text, apropos of nothing, are quotes from movies that will mostly soar over the heads of young listeners. The full-color art uses minimalist backgrounds and simple shapes to focus readers' eyes on the action. Libraries looking for books on community helpers or rescue teams may enjoy seeing these bunnies in action, but this effort is additional at best.—Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

Appropriately named Newbie is training to become a Rescue Bunny. She's conquered the Physical Fitness Test, the Emergency Rescue Roping Test and even the Blind Taste Test. The only test she still needs to take is the Field Test. At last, a call comes through. A giraffe is stuck in the mud, in hyena country of all places. It doesn't look good. Newbie bumbles and fumbles, making rookie mistakes and exasperating both colleagues and victim, but in the end her fierce determination not to leave the giraffe, even in the face of snarling, wild-eyed hyenas, saves the day. Cronin and Menchin (Stretch, 2009, etc.) team up once again in this humorous tale that oddly—yet quite successfully—combines the message of perseverance, the importance of rescue workers and sly nods to adult readers along the way. Lines from popular movies are slipped into separate speech bubbles, which can be skipped or chuckled over. And what is the step that finally saves the splayed giraffe? The Bunny Hop, of course. An inventive look at an essential profession. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews