Thunder Bunny

I purchased this book for my 2 year old son, since he loves rabbits. This is a cute (although unconventional) story of a little bunny who faces her fears and through courage becomes more than she was.

"She was the last and the littlest one"...since she was a surprise, grandma bunny said she came out of the blue. Thunder Bunny took this literally to mean she came from the sky, so she rode on the wind into the clouds.

My son calls rabbits "Hop hop," since he can't say rabbit yet, and now every time we see dark clouds or lightning, he points to the sky (or the cloud pictures in different books) and insists that Hop hop is in there. He absolutely loves this book. The illustrations are fantastic...simple, elegant and well done. It is quite different from Grandfather Twighlight (her other book we own), but equally as good.

I highly recommend this book. I think it's a great book to get any child's imagination working...especially for little ones ages 2-7.

Love this book. I bought it after discovering Grandfather Twilight. I wanted to buy everything she'd written after reading this book. Thunder Bunny is a very sweet and gentle story about a girl bunny. I highly recommend it, my daughter loves it.

Babara Helen Berger, author of the beloved GRANDFATHER TWILIGHT, A LOT OF OTTERS,ALL THE WAY TO LHASA and five other picture books, has done it again. This simply told story of a small blue bunny is a celebration of adventure, courage and discovery. After her journey into the dark storm clouds, Thunder Bunny recognizes that she is part of the blue "that is always there, no matter what." And, it is, oh, so satisfying that this change in her is lovingly appreciated by her entire family. Using a technique of cut and torn paper refined with acrylic, the illustrations of this amazing bunny and her vividly colored world surrounds the reader with warmth, beauty and a sense of wonder. Lovely!

Like all of Ms Berger's books, the illustrations are exquisite, gentle and enthralling to children and adults of any age. This lovely book is about an awareness that each of us experience being different, and yet prevailing, in a sometimes harsh world, through trial and persistence to an understanding that we are fine because we can identify with the unseen and unspoken sacredness in all life. Thunder Bunny knew she came from the sky - even if her siblings did not - "I am the blue, and the blue is me!" Her inner strength guided her with courage and purpose.
When Thunder Bunny's Mama looks at her, completely without judgment, and says "Oh My" - she recognizes something precious here, as we do with all our children.
My 3 ½ year old grandson and I read this book over and over during a recent visit... he loved it as much as I did!

In the first place, the age suggested for this book is wrong. It should be 2-15 years, being a perfect read-aloud for very small children - "I am a rumble bunny ... a Thun-Thun -THUNDER Bunny!" - and the kind of book that older children take out and look at reminiscently in secret for its lovely inspiration.
Berger's brief stories and pictures follow the direct line of children's associations, which makes them seem skewed to adult minds complicated by much data. If the smallest bunny in a toast-colored litter "came out of the blue" and is blue, it is a logical progression for her to be The Blue, as little Thunder Bunny discovers, to her glowing delight.
The illustrations are a departure for Berger, being mainly torn paper collage, with a little paint as appropriate here and there, instead of the watercolors and acrylics of her earlier books. The effect is as fresh and original as the story itself, entirely charming.