Emmaline and the Bunny by Katherine Hannigan

This is a lovely children's book about a lonely little girl who wants a bunny. Emmaline lives on Shipshape Street in Neatasapin. Everything there was very tidy. The mayor, a portly man named Orson Oliphant, demanded order and neatness. If anything didn't meet his standards, it was removed. The trees were removed for being leaf litterers, the weeds were whacked and the wild animals were sent away. Emmaline is not a tidy, quiet child. She tries but she likes to play and dig, to sing and dance. She likes to hop, hop, hop and yell "Dinglederrydee!" when she's happy. But this made her unpopular with the other children who were tidy and quiet. This also made her lonely. She desperately wanted a bunny to keep her company. Her parents were worried she would be sent away like the wild animals so they made her a promise. If she could be quiet and tidy for a month she could have her bunny.

The author writes a sweet story about Emmeline's efforts and her heart's desires. She makes good use of alliteration and creative words. The rhyming, sing song verse is reminiscent of a toned down Dr. Seuss. There are approximately 100 pages but the chapters are only one or two pages long. There is at least one soft pastel watercolor in every chapter painted by the author herself. The targeted age is 7-12, grades 2-7 but I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. It's the perfect story to snuggle up and read together this winter.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books for this Advanced Reading Copy.