Kae Nishimura,
Bunny Lune
Clarion Books 2007.

Ages 4-7

Gentle wit shines through this story about an American rabbit who wants to visit the moon after he receives a letter from his Japanese rabbit friend, Pyonko, about celebrating the autumn moon festival with her family: "In Japan there is a tradition that rabbits live on the moon".  Bunny Lune comes to realise that he’ll never be able to pay a billion dollars to go on a moon tour; and that scientific knowledge is not going to be much help either.  He has all but given up when a special encounter with an old man helps him to realise that he can indeed go to the moon - and it will be exactly as he wants it to be.

This is one of those beautifully crafted picture-books where very young children can accept every detail of the story at face value and then, as they get older, become more aware and appreciative of the deadpan humor. Meanwhile, adults who are called upon to read it aloud will chuckle over the little jokes in both the story and the delightfully expressive illustrations:   poor Bunny Lune... his eggs stamped with a bunny face don’t sell too well and he can’t get away from allusions to the moon he is trying to forget!

The book seamlessly pulls together a broad variety of interesting topics: writing letters, the idea of some sums put to good use, science, astronomy (the constellation Lepus, the hare) and the final, useful author’s note about the traditional Japanese festival celebrated “one night in the autumn, when the moon is full”.

Kae Nishimura, who was disappointed as a child to be shown “a photo of the surface of the moon with no rabbits”, has brought us a whimsical story with its roots in a world children can recognise.  It is sure to enchant its young readers.