Bunnies on the Bus

On the front cover, a full dozen crazy, colourful bunnies crowd each other on the bus, as it zooms along the street, scattering all before it. As the story begins, readers should linger over each double spread of illustration as there are sub plots and sub-sub plots to spot! Start with the washing hanging on the line on the first page… there is something UNUSUAL there! And there is a stonking great diamond on the penultimate page! Again, the text mentions no such wonder, but search the illustrations to find that legend. The bus whizzes past bus stops, swerves round corners and knocks shopping bags flying on its non-stop roller coaster adventure. ‘There are bunnies on the roof! Bunnies in the aisle! DO sit down, bunnies or you’ll end up in a pile!’ The chaos they create produces horror from all the other inhabitants of Sunny Town. The rhyming text bounces along, and readers will soon join in with the refrain, ‘Bunnies on the bus! Bunnies on the bus! No wonder there’s a fuss about the bunnies on the bus!’ The illustrator has added many dimensions to Ardagh’s hilarious text, and this book is a real treat to read aloud as well as for children to read for themselves. How does it end? Why, off jump all the bunnies from the bus… and they pile onto a train! Ardagh’s dedication reads: ‘A message to naughty bunnies everywhere: BEHAVE!’ Enjoy; it’s brilliant!