Deborah Howe (1946–1978)

There's something strange about that new bunny rabbit the Monroe family has just brought home. Why does it have fangs? And what is happening to those poor, innocent vegetables? The cat, who has read entirely too many horror novels, is worried, but the family dog just wants everybody to get along.

A beloved childhood classic that I've somehow managed to miss entirely for my whole life, despite the fact that I might have been at about the right age for it when it first came out. I can see why show more people are fond of it, though. It's very cute, and I can imagine actually being a bit creeped out by those drained-of-juice veggies as a little kid. Although as an adult I'm far more disturbed by the diets of the other animals. Please, kids, do not feed your dog chocolate cake or give your adult cat milk!

The 40th anniversary edition comes with an introduction by author James Howe, some short comments by a few other kids' book authors about how much they loved it when they were kids, and a gallery of cover art and other depictions of the titular bunny. Also a weird fuzzy cover, for some reason. show less

Bunnicula, eh? Is it as ridiculous as it sounds?

Indubitably.

Looking back, I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to read a lot as a kid. One of the few titles that stuck with me all the way into adulthood is Bunnicula--something you're not likely to forget, especially with the tagline, "Today Vegetables . . . Tomorrow, The World!"

Strange and unusual. The level of absurdity in this short book is just enough to tip it over the edge of reality, and yet it still retains plausibility. When I show more was a kid, I was enthralled with the way both of the Monroe's household pets spoke, and now that I'm older, I can see the horror influences that inspired this book (Dracula is one, obviously, but the cat himself has, oddly enough, a habit of believing a bit too strongly in the tales of writers such as Edgar Allen Poe and Mary Shelley). The family members themselves are practically secondary to the dog and cat, but still remain essential to the story, and provide just as much comedy as the animals do.

The main draw of the plot is just as eerie as it is hilarious. I don't want to spoil it, but perhaps you've already guessed what it is, looking at the title and all. The ensuing tomfoolery is even better. I quite enjoyed Harold's voice, too, which was more sophisticated and adult than I remembered it being. But I certainly understood it as a kid, and found myself laughing just as much then as I did recently at the book. The couple who worked on this had great senses of humor, not to mention a great writing style. It's very gothic, yet modern, and the authors have a good sense of character psychology, too. The two main characters are far from two-dimensional.

Oh, right, and there's the art! It's a very faded pencil-sketch style that lends itself well to the story. My favorite part of the art is Chester the cat's various expressions, especially the final one. A pretty clever joke accompanies it.

So, yes--although I, myself, tend to be wary of when a writer will try to enter an animal's head and narrate for them, Bunnicula goes beyond a lot of expectations, and never pushes any lessons upon its reader. I'm happy I still had my own copy safely tucked away, ready for a lazy, moonlit night, should I get the craving for chocolate cupcakes and vampire parodies.

I vaguely recall that I read a few more books in the series back at my old elementary school, I'll have to foray into the rest of them via my library soon. Might make it my 2018 mission, just 'cause I'm morbidly curious to see where this rabbit-tale of mystery ends up. (I also just did a quick search online to see if anyone uploaded some of the art, and it looks like an animated series was made? It looks rather unfaithful to the original art style, but it might be fun to check out.) show less

While this review indicates a 2019 read date, I have read this every year since for the month of Halloween.
I read this a few times as a kid, and even tried to read the whole series. The first book is where it's at and the others try too hard, I remember thinking even back then. Only in a much more 2000s-slang term way. I couldn't have been more than twelve. I thought the book was totally action-packed and was happy to find my suspicions that dogs could understand me, confirmed. I read it show more again tonight because of an article someone wrote that I read, praising it. I had -no- idea about how Bunnicula came to be, or that it had -writers- behind it; twelve-year-old me thought it was -real-. As an adult, I read the introduction and felt sad for the widowed (widower? his wife died) author, and thought it was so sweet that they wrote this book to make each other laugh. I turned the pages, eager for nostalgia to kick in and wondering if I'd see this book in a different light twenty years later.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could not stop laughing. Oh wow, this book is so cute. Poor long-suffering Chester. Wonderful Harold to the rescue! And you have to feel -awful- for Bunnicula. Poor baby is a long way from home and one of his new siblings is homicidal. The authors of this slim volume are so talented that they had me feeling varying degrees of genuine sympathy for all parties involved! I was so glad about the ending, and so delighted with the creativity in this book. The illustrations had me grinning, and were so detailed besides. I'm so glad I read this again, and -this has been around for forty years?- What success! show less

This is a hysterical 'horror' book for kids told through the eyes of the family dog. One day, the dog's family comes from the theater with a bunny with them! Apparently they found the bunny under one of the kids seats. When the dog and cat of the house see the bunny though, the cat freaks out! The bunny looks like a vampire. Worse yet, they all discover that this bunny doesn't EAT vegetables, it SUCKS the juices out of the them! While the cat is paranoid that the whole family is in danger, show more the dog takes everything in stride saying that he hasn't done any harm yet and to let the bunny be. A very fun story for kids. show less