Battle Bunny

Starred review from August 5, 2013
Scieszka and Barnett wonder what would happen if the young recipient of a dorky picture book, Birthday Bunny, decided to... improve its treacly text and soppy pictures, and make himself the hero to boot. Scrawling in pencil over the original story and its creamy, vintage-style oil images, Alex rechristens the book’s main character, Birthday Bunny, as Battle Bunny, turning the floppy-eared cutie into a helmeted, eye patch–wearing, saw-wielding global nemesis, complete with an Evil Plan and knowledge of 1,104 fighting styles. “Today is Judgment day!” announces one of Battle Bunny’s friends-turned-foes. “Yes it is,” replies the warmongering rabbit. “Judgment day for you!!!” Can anyone stop Battle Bunny? How about a certain boy who’s very good with a pencil? Kids should absolutely not try this at home (at least not with library books), but they’ll get plenty of vicarious laughs out of Alex’s changes, which becomes so extensive and freewheeling that the original book (about an innocuous forest surprise party) is all but illegible. A hilarious and transgressive story with a clear message: Don’t suffer schlock. Ages 5–9. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from September 1, 2013
What if a creative, military-obsessed kid took a pencil and went to town on a boring old book? This bold premise will cause some eye-popping as the Don't Write In Books rule is gleefully violated. Scieszka and Barnett's story is laid over a particularly saccharine and tepid picture book, a gift from Gran Gran to Alexander for his birthday. "Everybody needs a Special Thinking Place," the text coos. "Where is your Special Thinking Place?" In the foundation story, Birthday Bunny anticipates birthday gifts, finds that his friends have forgotten, pouts, gets a surprise party and learns a lesson. Myers' underlying oil paintings--some covering a whole page, others oval-shaped on faded cream paper that's yellowing at the edges--feel decidedly old-fashioned. But neither prose nor pictures are safe from the pencil bandit. Copious words and fragments of words are struck through (though all remain clearly legible), with new words and letters hand-printed above. Careful, childlike pencil drawings (realistically smudged) enhance and completely reflavor the original paintings. Birthday Bunny is given an eye patch and a WWF belt, becoming Battle Bunny: "I am going to whomp on you, bird brain, and pluck you like a sick chicken!" Bunny's weapons include megatron bombs and robot killer bees. "He went back to digging" becomes "He went down for the count." An enthusiastically taboo, devil-may-care outing for combat fans--and a great writing inspiration to use on old books headed for the bin. (Picture book. 5-10)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 1, 2013

Gr 1-3-Alex is clearly too old for the sappy picture book that his Gran Gran gives him for his birthday. Originally entitled Birthday Bunny, about a bunny who thinks his friends have forgotten his birthday, he spices it up by changing the title to Battle Bunny and making the main character an evil carrot-eating mastermind that is trying to take over the world. The boy also changes the dialogue frequently. For example, the crossed out text says, "Everybody needs a Special Thinking Place where they can think their best thoughts. Where is your Special Thinking Place?" The new, much-improved and hilarious text reads, "Everybody needs an Evil Plan Place where they can launch their Evil Plans. Where is your Evil Plan Place?" The tweaks to the oil and pencil illustrations, such as adding an eye patch and WWF wresting belt to the bunny, are priceless. This is a perfect book to give independent readers who are looking for something a little different. The unique layout and design will inspire creativity in readers.-Brooke Rasche, La Crosse Public Library, WI

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2013
Grades K-5 *Starred Review* This deliciously subversive piece of metafiction skewerswith a sharp wit and a sharper pencilthe earnest, purposeful literature so popular in the middle of the last century. The fun begins with a facsimile of something akin to an antique Little Golden Book, Birthday Bunny, complete with worn cover, yellowed pages, and wholesome message. But the book has been improved in story and pictures by a child named Alex wielding his trusty no. 2. The cover, retitled Battle Bunny, now features rockets, planes, bombs, and a general promise of mayhem. And Alex keeps that promise, transforming the insipid story of a sad bunny being cheered by his friends on his birthday into a raucous adventure wherein an evil bunny unleashes a tornado of destruction on the unsuspecting forest until the president is forced to call in one Agent Alex to save the day. Alex's edits, including a complete reworking of the text and plenty of pictorial embellishments, are soaked in testosterone. The animals of the forest become luchadores and ninja warriors; Air Force One and a few presidents (Obama and Lincoln) make appearances; and just about everything explodes. In the end, Alex is victorious, Battle Bunny is vanquished, and the world is safe. At least until Alex and his pencil ride again . . .(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)