Bound To Stay Bound

Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2007 It was inevitable: since those first words triggered by her joyful reunion with Knuffle Bunny (Knuffle Bunny, BCCB 10/04), Trixie has learned to talk . . . and talk, and talk, and talk. She’s eager to show her one-of-a-kind bunny to her classmates in preschool, until she sees that Sonja has her own, nearly identical Knuffle Bunny. The girls argue and get their best friends taken away by the teacher, and there’s a tragic mix-up upon their return at the end of the day. Unfortunately, while these girls can talk, they can’t tell time, and when they each discover the mistake in the wee hours of the morning, their beleaguered fathers have no choice but to venture out into the New York night to make the exchange. Willems manages pitch-perfect humor with his usual dexterity as he moves up and down the scales here—this story is as funny for grownups as it is for the slightly older elementary students to whom it seems best suited, and yet it remains sympathetic to listeners who are Trixie’s age and have shared her predicament as well. The book mines humor from film noir conventions by casting a falsely sinister complexion over the mistaken identity and the nocturnal exchange, a tone that brings new significance to the black-and-white photographic backdrops behind the lively scrawled figures, while the epilogue brings viewers right back to bleary real life with the young and the feckless. Yet another layered and effective work from Willems, this joyously continues his string of uncontested successes. KC - Copyright 2007 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 08/01/2007 PreS-Gr 1-When Trixie and her beloved Knuffle Bunny go to preschool, Trixie is shocked to learn that her bunny is not entirely unique in the world. Indeed, classmate Sonja has one, too! An argument ensues over the pronunciation of the bunny's name ("Kuh-nuffle," insists Trixie. "Nuffle," replies Sonja), and the teacher confiscates both bunnies, returning them at the end of the day. Trixie's blissful reunion comes to a dramatic conclusion at 2:30 a.m. when she awakens to the horrifying fact that this "-is NOT Knuffle Bunny." In an unspeakable error, the stuffed animals have been switched. And both girls expect the mistake to be corrected immediately. Fans will not be surprised that daddy and Trixie venture into the Brooklyn night to meet Sonja and her dad for the rapturous exchange and a final hug that presages friendship between the girls. As readers have come to expect of Willems, his understated text is brief and the visual storytelling is hilariously eloquent. He masterfully employs the technique of setting his vivid, hand-drawn characters against photographs of neighborhood, school, and even (in an exquisite page turn) the beautifully up-lit Grand Army Plaza at night. In both photographs and cartoons there is expansively witty detail, and it will take a keen observer to distinguish between the "twin" bunnies (and to find the famous pigeon). Irresistibly funny, tender, and universal, this is another consummate star turn for Trixie, daddy, bunny, and their creator.-Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. - Copyright 2007 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 09/01/2007 Knuffle Bunny returns, but this time he has a doppelganger. Trixie is off to school, and things are going well enough—until she notices that Sonja is holding her own Knuffle Bunny. Arrgh! The afternoon results in dueling bunnies, which are confiscated by the teacher. Happily, they are returned at the end of the day, but at 2:30 a.m. realization hits: the bunny Trixie is sleeping with is not her own. Despite parental protestations, phone calls are placed, bunnies are exchanged, and the girls, bonded during the trauma, become best friends. This has much of the charm of Knuffle Bunny (2004), a Caldecott Honor Book, but the premise is stretched here: the middle-of-the-night meeting is energetic, but it seems overplayed. As in the previous title, the slice-of-life artwork is smashing. Willem’s cartoon-style art, set against crisp black-and-white photos of New York City interiors and exteriors, catches every bit of the plentiful emotion. Keen-eyed kids will have fun keeping track of the Knuffle Bunny as he’s lost, then found again. - Copyright 2007 Booklist.