What do you get when you mix a couple of hippie parents, a very smart little girl, and a cast of animal characters who talk, walk and act like humans?  You get Polly Horvath’s hilariously funny book, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny Detective’s Extraordinaire!

For those looking for a great bed-time story or just a book your child won’t be able to put down, look no further.  Horvath weaves together and imaginative story of Madeline, a little girl forced to grow up too soon as her parents are sort of out-in-space, and a married bunny couple who become not only helpers, but a parental influence.  Toss in a gang of crazy foxes, who have kidnapped Madeline’s parents and a marmot who must help with translating a recipe, and you have the makings of a great story.

The characters in this book, both animal and human, are very well-developed.  Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are highly cultured, and Mr. Bunny is an avid Scientific Bunny reader.  Mrs. Bunny has many worthwhile pursuits, the most recent of which is being a member of the local hat club.  Madeline is a fifth grade girl who thirsts for education, but whose parents aren’t sold on traditional education.  The gang of foxes are bad guys, but with a leader named Grand Poobah, they are a little inept.

This is a delightfully silly book.  Some of the humor does tend toward the cartoon/animal mischief side so parents of children under age seven should be aware.  There are also 7-10 vocabulary words that are likely to be a stretch in terms of pronunciation and meaning for children ages 8-10, but even if skipped over don’t materially change the story.

Overall a captivating read for children and those who just need a good giggle.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  3 religious exclamations.

Violence/Gore:  Factory logo is rabbit being stuffed into can; character gets stuck in a door and must be crow-bared out; animal character mentions human fingers as food several times; animal character kidnaps adult human characters; animal character threatens undescribed harm to adult characters several times; animal character threatens to drag another animal character by ears.

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

Kidnapping.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

One reference to Irish whiskey.