Picture Book #7


Author:  Mo Willems
Title: Knuffle Bunny
Illustrator:  Mo Willems
Readability score:  Pre-K to First Grade
Genre:  Fiction
Subgenre:  Realistic fiction
Theme:  Communication is key.
Primary and secondary characters:  Trixie, mother, father, Knuffle Bunny
Awards:  Caldecott Winner
Date of Publication:  2004
Publishing Company:  Hyperion Books for Children
ISBN number: 0-7868-1870-0


Knuffle Bunny is about the day Trixie lost her stuffed toy rabbit, Kuffle Bunny.  Trixie and her dad go to the laundromat to wash clothes.  Somehow Knuffle Bunny gets put in the wash.  Trixie realizes she has lost her beloved bunny halfway home.  She tries to tell her dad, but he doesn't understand.  She throws a fit to try to get him to go back, but it's no good.  They reach home and Trixie's mother knows exactly what is missing.  They race back to the laundromat, where they find Knuffle Bunny.  These were the first words Trixie says.

This book is appropriate for very young children.  I could read this story to a first grade class.  The important aspects of this story are communication and keeping up with belongings.  I would read the story aloud to the students.  Then, I would ask the students if they have ever lost anything before.  I would allow the students time to tell the class what they have lost.  Then, I would give the students a writing prompt that they could fill in.  This would allow the students to practice text-to-self comprehension and they can practice their writing skills. The writing prompt would look like this:

Name ________________________

Once upon a time, I lost my favorite

___________________________________________________________________________

I lost it because

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I found it when __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________