Fuse 8 n’ Kate: It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler, ill. Robert Bollen
“I want to do something with my life, but with minimal effort.” “He’s the hero our children need today.” Today, there is a mystery at work. For the past two years this 1983 beginner book publication has hit #1 on the Publishers Weekly list of top selling picture books around Easter time. But why? What caused this particular P.J. Funnybunny book to become quite so popular again? We endeavor to find out as we tackle today’s title. It’s not very Easter-y, but I guess bunnies will be bunnies. Along the way, we talk about the potentially damaging narrative at work here and how this book is, in its way, the complete opposite of a title like Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn.
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, PlayerFM, Audible, Amazon Music, or your preferred method of podcast selection.
Show Notes:
Love the bindle. Sad that this is literally the only moment in the whole book that this bindle is seen.
Size-wise, what do we think? Giant bunny or tiny baby bear?
After looking at this image, Kate imagines these moose speaking in the voice of Eeyore. “Live with us, don’t live with us, it doesn’t matter. Living doesn’t matter.”
We kind of adore that Sadler went with “MOOK” with this one.
As Kate correctly points out, the book should have spelled this as opossum. As for how you pronounce it, apparently both pronouncing the “o” and not pronouncing it are equally fine options.
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Kate Recommends: Go to Sleep, I Miss You by Lucy Knisley
Betsy Recommends: A Minecraft Movie
Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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You know, I wonder if the Easter-time popularity of P.J. Funnybunny comes entirely down to that polkadotted bowtie. The colors, the pattern… they kind of take P.J. out of nondescript rabbit territory and make him look like one of those Rankin Bass animated characters.
As for meese sounds… Daniel Pinkwater had this to say: “Bugling is noise that no animal except a moose can really do right. Elk can bugle, and elephants can bugle, and some kinds of geese and swans can bugle, but it is nothing like moose bugling. When the moose bugled, the whole house jumped and rattled, dishes clinked together in the cupboard, pots and pans clanged together, icicles fell off the house.”
A bit like the noise I made at hearing Kate’s 7.5 rating! (Even though I also find the book charming and love all the cartoon animals).