"Knuffle Bunny" by Mo Willems is a children's book about a little girl who had a stuffed bunny named Knuffle Bunny. She loved this bunny, and took him everywhere. One day, she lost Knuffle Bunny at the laundromat. She was so upset that she and her parents went to find Knuffle Bunny. They found him and Knuffle Bunny was the first word she said.
Mo Willems was a writer and animator for PBS. He won six Emmy Awards for his writing. He created two animated series. http://mowillemsfaq.blogspot.com/2007...

This book has great illustrations and if you follow them closely, you can predict what may happen. The best part of the pictures is that they are real life settings but the characters are animated and in color. This little girl loses her knuffle bunny on a trip to the laundrymat, and when she realizes it, she is unable to tell her father that she lost him. In all unsucceful attempts to tell her father, her mother realizes she is missing the bunny. They get the bunny back and her first words are knuffle bunny.
At the end of the story, it would be fun to ask children what their first words were.
Very cute story! ( )

Mattson, Jennifer. Sept. 15 2004. Knuffle Bunny: Review. Booklist Online. http://www.booklistonline.com.proxy.g...

This story is about a little girl named Trixie who could not speak yet. She ran an errand with her father to the neighborhood laundromat and brought her knuffle bunny stuffed animal along. She had so much fun helping her father with all kinds of things while at the laundromat. On the way home, Trixie realized that she left her knuffle bunny at the laundromat so she tried many different things to get her father to notice it was missing; however, it did not work. Once they got home, the first thing Trixie's mother said was "where's knuffle bunny?" Immediately, they all rushed back to the laundromat to search for knuffle bunny and they eventually they found it. This made Trixie so happy that her first words were "knuffle bunny."
I would read this book to students in kindergarten or first grade. This is a good book to have students echo read because there are not too many words to a page. One thing I liked about this book was that the characters were illustrated in cartoon animation, but the pictures were illustrated in real world settings. This could be read when teaching students about different real world settings because it includes things such as a school, a park, and a laundromat. ( )

This is a delightful story of a little girl and her beloved Knuffle Bunny, and what happens when Knuffle Bunny gets left behind at the laundrymat.

As well as a charming story this is a warning to parents that children's tantrums may have important motivations, especially when you're too little to explain yourself in words.
The art is interesting, with cartoon characters layered over black and white photographic backgrounds. While the photographs are obviously New York (Brooklyn, specifically) this realistic background roots the story in everyplace, and gives it a believability beyond the cartoon characters.

www.mowillems.com ( )