Wed Wabbit

by Lissa Evans

Overview

A ten-year-old girl is transported to a world ruled by a toy bunny in this hilarious adventure perfect for fans of Chris Grabenstein and Lemony Snicket.

Your name is Fidge and you’re nearly eleven. You’ve been hurled into a strange world.

You have three companions: two are unbelievably weird and the third is your awful cousin, Graham. You must solve a series of nearly impossible clues.

You need to deal with a cruel stuffed animal dictator and three thousand Wimbley Woos (yes, you read that sentence correctly). And the whole situation—the whole, entire thing—is your fault.

Wed Wabbit is an adventure about friendship, danger, and the terror of never being able to get back home again. And it’s funny. It’s seriously funny.

Praise for Wed Wabbit

“This well-crafted journey of self-realization amuses at every turn.” —Publishers Weekly

“Properly funny . . . Deceptively wise.” —The Guardian (UK)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338185287
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/17/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	569,890
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Wed Wabbit is Lissa Evans's third book for children. Her first book, Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, earned a starred review from Kirkus and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Children's Book Award. She has also written four books for adults. Before she became a writer, Lissa spent four years as a doctor, and then worked as a comedy producer, first in radio and then in television. She has two teenage daughters and lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

As in Alice in Wonderland or The Phantom Tollbooth, Fidge is dragged through a gantlet of absurdity, forcing her to engage with a fictional world she disdained. But as Fidge finds allies…we sense Evans's deliberate paradox. Fidge's quest isn't the archetypal hero's journey. This is a crisis of her own making. But in the process of saving a world she once thought had no value, she begins to climb out of the box she's created for both herself and others…Living is the real hero's journey, Evans suggests, where in order to fix things, you might have to break them apart first.

The New York Times Book Review - Soman Chainani

11/27/2017
Ten-year-old Fidge, still adjusting to her father’s death two years earlier, is usually patient with her four-year-old sister, Minnie. But after a frustrating shopping trip, Fidge kicks Wed Wabbit, one of Minnie’s beloved stuffed toys, and Minnie gets hit by a car when she runs after it. While their mother stays with Minnie at the hospital, Fidge spends the night with her difficult cousin, Graham, whose parents take helicoptering to new levels. Amid an enormous thunderstorm, the two cousins are somehow transported to the land of the Wimbley Woos, colorful cylindrical creatures from Minnie’s favorite stories. There, they attempt to save them from a dictator—none other than Wed Wabbit himself. Evans (Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms) smartly counterbalances Fidge’s guilt over her role in her sister’s injury with the impossibly cheerful realm of Wimbley land (the Wimbley Woos speak in rhyme, testing both kids’ patience) and the improbable menace of Wed Wabbit who, like Minnie, can’t pronounce his Rs (“Those who bweak my wules will face my wage!!!”). This well-crafted journey of self-realization amuses at every turn. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Lissa Evans:Carnegie Medal shortlistBranford Boase shortlistCosta Book Award shortlist Guardian Children's Book Award longlist Praise for Wed Wabbit:"Living is the real hero's journey, Evans suggests, where in order to fix things, you might have to break them apart first." -The New York Times Book Review"Inventive and surprising...A laugh-out-loud, roustabout tale" -Horn Book (Starred Review)"Evans achieves vivid, original world building while maintaining trim prose that's by turns heart-rending and hilarious, exciting, and well worth a place alongside beloved adventure classics. Delightful."-Kirkus (Starred Review)"This well-crafted journey of self realization amuses at every turn."-Publishers Weekly"Themes explore what it means to come to the end of childhood and the importance of fulfilling one's destiny. Reminiscent of classics and other portal fantasies such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"(Recommended) -School Library Connection"Whimsical, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny." -School Library Journal"Evans really puts the odd in odyssey....sharp and real." -Booklist"If Lissa Evans' Wed Wabbit doesn't win a clutch of prizes I will be amazed. Inventive, funny, and not a word out of place. A future classic." -Charlotte Eyre, The Bookseller, Book of the Month Pick"In 50 years time, people may say 'It's a bit like Wed Wabbit' in the way they now say 'it's a bit like Narnia'." -Nick Lake, publisher and author Praise for Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms:"Wacky, funny and ever so mysterious, this clever tale hits the ground running and never lets up... A vastly engaging, must-read mystery infused with the perfect touch of captivating conjuration-er, magic." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review"A book full of warmth, sharp humour and clever puzzles" — Patrick Ness, Time Out"Entertaining... an old-fashioned mystery of the kids-besting-clueless-adults variety." -Publishers Weekly"Stuart is a likable, plucky little guy, the Charlie Bucket to great-uncle Tony's Willy Wonka... The elements of magical realism that waft through the narrative keep things humming along nicely." -Booklist

From the Publisher

12/01/2017
Gr 3–6—Fidge (short for Iphigenia), her mother, and little sister Minnie, (short for Minerva) are getting ready for an outdoor vacation when something terrible occurs. Minnie gets hit by a car while chasing after her toy red rabbit, which she pronounces "wed wabbit." Fidge blames herself for the accident. While her mother and sister go to the hospital, Fidge gets sent to stay with her spoiled cousin Graham who is afraid of everything. Soon Fidge and Graham find themselves trapped in The Land of the Wimbley Woos, one of Minnie's favorite books. This is a land where Minnie's toys come to life and they are often giant-sized. Readers will be reminded of Alice in Wonderland as Fidge, like Alice, has to puzzle her way out of precarious predicaments. Memorable characters emerge like Ella the Elephant; the rhyme-obsessed, multicolored Wimbley Woos; and Dr. Carrot. Readers will be taken down the rabbit hole as these characters try to free Wimbley Land from tyranny. VERDICT Whimsical, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny.—Lisa Gieskes, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC

School Library Journal

★ 2017-11-13
In 36 hours, Fidge, a 10-year-old white English girl, her widowed mother, and her little sister, 4-year-old Minnie, are going on holiday. There's so much to do: packing and running to the shops for supplies, including flippers for Fidge.Fidge is torn away from her packing to read a good-night story to Minnie. She wants to hear The Land of Wimbely Woos yet again, and no rushing through it will satisfy Minnie or her favorite stuffed toy, Wed Wabbit. The next day, the trio is running around the shops when Minnie sees a new Wimbley Woos book, which they must immediately buy. The delay means Fidge doesn't make it on time to get her flippers, and Minnie's struggling to manage her toy cellphone, the book, Eleanor Elephant, and Wed Wabbit. She drops Wed Wabbit—then a terrible thing happens. In the aftermath, Fidge is sent to stay with her awful cousin Graham, who will remind more than one reader of Dudley Dursley or Eustace Scrubbs. The cousins are arguing during a heavy storm when a clap of thunder sounds and they're transported to another world that looks an awful lot like—it can't be—the Land of Wimbley Woos, which, incredibly, seems also to be populated by Minnie's toys—including Wed Wabbit. Fidge must figure out how to navigate this bizarre world, solve riddles, and work with Graham to get back home while avoiding the wrath of a terrible tyrant. Evans achieves vivid, original worldbuilding while maintaining trim prose that's by turns heart-rending and hilarious, exciting, and well worth a place alongside beloved adventure classics.Delightful. (Adventure. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews