Knuffle Bunny Too
by Mo Willems

Children's book review by Steve Barancik

Ages 2-5

Trixie's back, and she's using her words this time. The thing is, she's still just as attached as ever to Knuffle Bunny. (By the way, she pronounces the "K".)

She's excited about her first day of Pre-K, already knows most of the kids by name. And she's really excited about showing them Knuffle Bunny.

Excited, that is, until she spots Sonja. And guess what? Sonja has a Knuffle Bunny too. (Though she doesn't pronounce the "K". Probably her dad hasn't made a living in comedy, like Trixie's, and doesn't know how funny the letter K is.)

Rivalry breaks out until Ms. Greengrove, the teacher, takes both Knuffle Bunnies. Of course, she gives them back when the school bell rings, and the girls are free to go about the business of being joyous kids.

At 2:30 a.m. though, Trixie realizes the bunny she's cuddling with is not hers. And as luck would have it, Sonja realizes the same thing at the identical time.

Do you think the girls will be willing to wait until the next day of school to get their own bunnies back?

What kind of story would that be???

Mo Willems illustrates this simple story with the same flare that earned him another Caldecott Honor for the first Knuffle Bunny. His trademark cartoony characters appear on a black and white photographic background, Willems' Brooklyn neighborhood providing the backdrop for all the silliness.

(Check out the wonderful two page shot of Grand Army Plaza, with the two dads, two girls and two knuffle bunnies making their way towards each other.)

The story ends as it should, with the two girls becoming best friends. Willems ends the book though with an epilogue that's entirely for parents...

Both bleary-eyed dads walk their girls to school the next day. And when they meet up, Trixie says,

Do you want to play with my Knuffle Bunny?

And Sonja says,

Sure! Do you want to play with mine?

Both dads (and all parents) realize this won't be the last time they meet like this.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

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