Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

by Mo Willems

Trixie can't wait to bring her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny to school and show him off to everyone. But when she gets there, she sees something awful: Sonja has the same bunny. Suddenly, Knuffle Bunny doesn't seem so one-of-a-kind anymore. Chaos ensues until the bunnies are taken away by Ms. Greengrove. After school, Trixie finally gets her beloved bunny back. But in the middle of the night, Trixie realizes something. She has the wrong bunny! Daddy comes to the rescue again as a midnight swap is arranged with the other bunny, the other little girl, and the other daddy. Needless to say, the daddies are not very happy. By the end of the story Trixie has her beloved bunny back, but she has also gained something new: her very first best friend.

The hilarious Knuffle Buddy Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity is a must-read for any child with a favorite toy, blanket, or object of any kind that they take everywhere and couldn't imagine life without. This Caldecott Medal winner is a humorous story of two little girls who have similar tastes in favorite toys, which eventually leads to a friendship - but not until after a whole day's worth of arguing about whose Knuffle Bunny is better and how to properly say the word "Knuffle". The story is told by a narrator through simple sentences that a beginning reader can follow, but dialogue bubbles directly on the picture are also used when the characters speak for themselves. The unique presentation style is a large part of what sets this book apart from others; all of the characters are colorful cartoons, who are then superimposed onto real black-and-white photographs. The pictures vary in size and shape from one large picture on a page, to two pages for a single continuous picture, and several smaller panels of pictures across a two-page spread. The pictures even use the panels to zero in or pan out, like a camera would.

Your child may be able to relate to Trixie's excitement over bringing her Knuffle Bunny to her kindergarten class - especially if your child has participated in Show-and-Tell. Or perhaps they will understand the disappointment of seeing someone with the same toy as them, like when Trixie cannot believe Sonya has Knuffle Bunny too. Humor is prevalent in the story, whether it's the amount of expression Trixie's bug eyes manage to portray, or how silly she looks when she sleeps - is she snoring? The adult readers of this book will appreciate when "Trixie's daddy tried to explain what '2:30 a.m.' means," when Trixie insists on getting her Knuffle Bunny back NOW. The dialogue between Trixie's daddy and Sonya's daddy is funny in how it resembles a corny crime movie; Sonya's daddy calls in the middle of the night and simply says, "We have your bunny" and then the book explains that "arrangements were made...there was an exchange."

My four-year-old niece Emily is a fan of all of the Knuffle Bunny books. She seems to be able to relate to Trixie, as Emily has a favorite Barbie that she drags everywhere as well. Emily forgot her Barbie at a friend's house one time, and refused to go to bed until we drove back and picked it up. Luckily, the friend did not live too far away, but it was very clear that Emily would not be able to forget about it until morning.

--Audra