Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: Humor, Childhood Attachments, Problem Solving
Grade Level: K-2
Curricular Connections:English (Writing, Story Telling)

The story starts out as Trixie runs a laundry errand with her daddy, and of course her favorite stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny. On the way to the laundromat, Daddy and Trixie appear as cartoons in black and white photographs showing the places they passed by on the way such as the park and a school. When they get there, Trixie gets to put the money into the washing machines, and they begin their walk back home. Through several frames of pictures, readers will see that Knuffle Bunny gets left behind in a machine, but Trixie doesn't realize this until they are part way back home. She tries to tell Daddy Knuffle Bunny is back at the laundromat through jibberish talk, but he doesn't understand. By the time they reach home, a frustrated Daddy is carrying a screaming Trixie, and of course Mommy looks at the situation and immediately asks, "Where's Knuffle Bunny?" The three of them go racing back to the laundromat where Daddy eventually finds Knuffle Bunny, and Trixie utters her first words, "Knuffle Bunny!"

Sequel: Knuffle Bunny Too

Classroom Suggestions:

1. Students could write stories about the following topics; a toy or object that goes with them everywhere, a time they helped their parents do something, losing something important to them, or a time when their parents didn't understand them.

2. Have students bring photographs from home from some family event and write a story about them using the photographs as their illustrations.