Scan barcode
A review by rachelb36
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny--Detectives Extraordinaire! by Polly Horvath
2.0
I had high hopes for this book, but was disappointed.
The premise is cute: a young girl's parents are kidnapped by foxes, and she enlists the help of bunny detectives to find them.
There are some laugh-out-loud moments in this book, which is the only reason it gets two stars from me instead of just one. I read this to my nieces (ages 7 and 9) and they said it was "hilarious."
The biggest problem for me was that Horvath didn't seem to know which age group she was writing for. The illustrations are whimsical and appeal to younger children. The plot appeals to younger children. Yet, there are a ton of references that may be over the heads of even some middle schoolers, let alone younger kids. For example, Mr. Bunny goes off on a long tangent about why he doesn't like tipping waiters because their employers should be paying their wages; there's also talk about organically-sourced food and veganism (the girl's parents are hippies), why Prince Charles serves, even though he didn't ask for the honor, and many more instances that I simply can't remember right now. All of these things were clearly an attempt at cleverness and humor, but they fell flat and had absolutely zero to do with the plot. I got very frustrated with them.
On top of that, there was language used that I don't like seeing in children's books: crap, stupid, idiot, heck, shut up, God's name used in vain, and there was even talk of murder and "bodies buried in the basement." None of this is necessary in a children's book! I had to edit it on the fly while reading to my girls.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.
The premise is cute: a young girl's parents are kidnapped by foxes, and she enlists the help of bunny detectives to find them.
There are some laugh-out-loud moments in this book, which is the only reason it gets two stars from me instead of just one. I read this to my nieces (ages 7 and 9) and they said it was "hilarious."
The biggest problem for me was that Horvath didn't seem to know which age group she was writing for. The illustrations are whimsical and appeal to younger children. The plot appeals to younger children. Yet, there are a ton of references that may be over the heads of even some middle schoolers, let alone younger kids. For example, Mr. Bunny goes off on a long tangent about why he doesn't like tipping waiters because their employers should be paying their wages; there's also talk about organically-sourced food and veganism (the girl's parents are hippies), why Prince Charles serves, even though he didn't ask for the honor, and many more instances that I simply can't remember right now. All of these things were clearly an attempt at cleverness and humor, but they fell flat and had absolutely zero to do with the plot. I got very frustrated with them.
On top of that, there was language used that I don't like seeing in children's books: crap, stupid, idiot, heck, shut up, God's name used in vain, and there was even talk of murder and "bodies buried in the basement." None of this is necessary in a children's book! I had to edit it on the fly while reading to my girls.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.