Knuffle Bunny Too

In this book by prolific children's author Mo Willems, Trixie is in Kindergarten and can't wait to show off her beloved Knuffle Bunny at school. Her father takes her to school and all seems well, until Trixie realizes that Sonja has the same bunny as her! Banter back and forth causes their teacher, Ms. Greengrove, to take their bunnies away for the day. At the end of the day, Knuffle Bunny is returned and all is well, until she realizes that she has the wrong bunny! Sonja realizes this, too. In the middle of the night, dads come to the rescue by arranging an exchange of the bunnies. Once the bunnies are safely returned, the two realize that they have a lot more in common than they realized, and they become the best of friends!

A sequel to Knuffle Bunny, this book stayed true to Mo Willems' style. The characters were drawn with very rough, child-like hand, just like in his other books that are so popular. What interested me most about this book was the pictures. They were realistic images that had been overlaid with drawings of the characters. These realistic images were sometimes iconic, giving the reader a clue as to where the story was placed.

Regardless of location, however, this story is so realistic and feels as though it could have happened to anyone as a child. The item that the girls fought about can be broadened to other things beyond a stuffed bunny, but the story ultimately comes down to understanding kindness and finding connections with one another. This is always something that students can work on, so I think that this would be an extremely relevant book in my classroom!

Knuffle Bunny Too 
By: Mo Willems 
Published in 2007