Not a Book About Bunnies - Amanda Henke - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Amanda Henke

ILLUSTRATOR: Anna Daviscourt
GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Animals.
RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: Not a book about bunnies. 😉

One animal is feeling quite frustrated because there are umpteen books about bunnies and none about itself. After all, it has the most wonderful quills that go ‘Ba-poof’ at the sign of danger.
Have you guessed the identity of this creature yet?
Why, it’s Porcupine, of course!
And with this book, Porcupine endeavours to tell little readers why there should be more books focussing on porcupines rather than bunnies.
There’s only one problem. Bunny keeps entering the page and spoiling Porcupine’s promotional efforts. How do you think Porcupine will deal with Bunny’s attention-grabbing tactics? Read and find out.


Children’s picture books are either educational or entertaining, sometimes both. This comes in the ‘both’ category. Porcupine’s claims are laugh-inducing and his attempts at shooing Bunny away are quite funny.
 
What I loved most about this book was how unapologetic Porcupine was about what are commonly perceived as flaws. It was totally comfortable in its own skin, and never felt gloomy about others’ perceptions.

There are some nice facts about porcupines at the end of the book.

The illustrations match the tone of the story well. Their vivid colours are sure to pop out in the paper copy.

The vocabulary of the book is suitable to its young readers. There are some made-up words that add to the quirkiness. I learnt a new word from this book: ‘porcupette’, which is a baby porcupine! How cute is that!

Overall, a whimsical and enjoyable picture book that finally allows porcupines to grab their share of the limelight. Recommended to all little animal lovers, whether they are tired of reading about bunnies or not. Ba-Poof!

My thanks to Starry Forest Books and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Not A Book About Bunnies”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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