One thing I really love doing as a blogger, is getting the opportunity to review children’s books through the Independent Book Publishers Association.
Our latest sample is the Easter basket-worthy “It’s Just a Bunnypalooza” by Brenda Faatz and illustrated by Peter Trimarco.
My children’s book reviews are a side passion project to help show my support of authors of color, female authors and independent authors. As a writer, I know how much work, love and integrity goes into each of these projects – big or small. It’s important to me to help show the world that, too. These books are usually #gifted to me to review, but all opinions are my own. [disclosure]
“It’s Just a Bunnypalooza,” designed for kids ages 4 to 8, retails in hardback for $11.70 and is available in my Amazon Influencer Shop (affiliate link).
There are some things we like and some things we don’t like about this book.
But first, the …
Synopsis
The story is about a girl named Lizzy who says she learned to dance from a group of bunnies. But then when her peers make fun of her for it, she stops believing in her bunny friends. Then, the neighborhood bunnies get together to inspire Lizzy to believe again. The lesson is be true to who you really are.
Likes
- I like that it’s about bunnies because it’s Easter time, but it’s not an actual “Easter” book.
- The kids seem to like it.
- I appreciate that the book has a strong moral of the story: that it’s cool to just be yourself.
- The book’s construction is a solid binding with colorful pages and a cute main character.
- This book presents a clever way of introducing some names of classic dances in a fun rhyming theme. It would be a fun read for a “dance mom” family or perhaps a baby ballerina class. ( This author and illustrator team collaborated on writing and producing
original music and scripts for professional children’s theatre prior to this series, according to the publisher.) - Speaking of rhyming, we love the natural flow of the storytelling and my book-obsessed hubby agrees. We look for books that rhyme when selecting stories for our littles because it’s more fun for us to read aloud together.
Dislikes
- It’s pretty wordy.
- I don’t think it fits in the “It’s Just So….” series.
▶ More on that last point:
The publisher says Bunnypalooza is the third book in the creators’ “It’s Just So” series. The first “It’s Just So …” book apparently featured Lizzy unsure about all the new experiences on her first day of school, always saying things like: “It’s just so hard” or “It’s just so scary.”
I like that. That’s relatable.
Then Lizzy actually experiences the first day of school and at the end of day finds that school is actually “Just so … not what she thought it would be!”
Cute, right?
But in “It’s just a Bunnypalooza,” that theme just doesn’t carry over. The phrase is used in random ways such as when Lizzy and her bunny friends are all dancing and there’s normal story stuff you’ll find something like “It’s just a POLKA-LOCA FRENZY!” in an overbearing purple font.
The synopsis says the creators did this for older children who enjoy made-up words. But I just don’t particularly enjoy the way it’s presented. To me, it interrupts the storytelling and isn’t visually appealing.
Conclusion
Overall, “It’s just a Bunnypalooza” is a cute story for little kids. And it comes with a worthwhile life lesson. Plus the bunny friends are cute and fun.
We’d love to hear what you think of “It’s Just a Bunnypalooza”!