Earn It!

May 1, 2017
Everyone, bunnies included, must learn to make money the old-fashioned way. By earning it.McLeod's vehicle is a sweetly ambitious bunny named Bun who is all energy and hot colors; reds, oranges, and yellows splash her cartoon look. "I want to be RICH and FAMOUS!" Bun yodels ("rich" meaning lots and lots of carrots in Bunnyland). "And how are you going to do that, my dear?" asks the mother bunny, who is busy digging a garden; in her grays and blacks, she has as much joie de vivre as a toil-worn Russian serf. Bun's solution is to become a famous singer, but mother explains that fame and fortune don't come overnight: they are the product of "practice, practice, practice." Bun is impatient to reach the limelight and does a little math, realizing that working her way up the ladder will require investment of work and carrots to reach goals along the way. "Then, if you keep earning carrots, you can save enough to record a song that lots of bunnies will buy." Readers may wonder why Bun doesn't simply plant 40 hectares of carrots. The economics lesson sits uneasily next to the emphasis on achieving fame; the last page feels entirely arbitrary, with its return to math and the reminder that Moneybunnies know what "counts": "love." The joy in hard work, above and beyond the gratification, feels absent in Bunnyland, which is a serious downer. (Picture book. 3-6)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 1-Carrots are money in Bunnyland. Bun, a young rabbit, earns carrots for helping her mother with household responsibilities and wants to become rich and famous by singing. But Bun's mother reminds her that bunnies don't get rich and famous overnight. It takes time and money, and the more you work at it, the better you will do. And after all that work, you will have earned your success, which is even better than being rich or famous. The cheery pencil and ink illustrations depict characters with large eyes and bursts of activity. Bun's obsession with being rich and famous is a bit unsettling, but her mother's gentle message about working hard is sound. VERDICT A sweetly simplistic introduction to financial literacy and taking personal responsibility for one's success that should find a welcome home in most collections.-Jessica Marie, Salem Public Library, OR

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.