Our Favorite Bunny Picture Books

With Easter lurking right around the corner, I thought it was a perfect time to introduce you to some of our favorite bunny characters:

Big & Little Nutbrown Hare from Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram. Many people have become familiar with this tender father, son duo. Little Nutbrown Hare is determined to tell Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. Little Nutbrown Hare is surprised to find out just how much his dad loves him too. With cute illustrations and a message all parents can relate to, this has become a classic amongst picture books.

Knuffle Bunny from Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems is a stuffed animal that belongs to Trixie. Trixie takes Knuffle Bunny with her everywhere, and one day, Knuffle Bunny goes missing. Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth ensues. Trixie, her mom, and her dad retrace their steps in an attempt to find the missing bunny. Willems, obviously a parent himself, captures the real life happenings of a little girl and her beloved doll in this humorous story. This book won the Caldecott Honor in 2005 for it’s creative illustrations. We also recommend Knuffle Bunny Too, and Knuffle Bunny Free.

The Bunny Books by Rick Walton and Paige Miglio. Walton has written a collection of clever books that have bunnies as the characters. One focuses on the alphabet, one on counting, one is about going to school, traveling from place to place, and more. We have enjoyed all the different bunny books. The illustrations are adorable and I love that there is something for little people to learn from each book.

Mr. McGreely’s garden intruders in Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas. Mr McGreely is so excited about the garden he has planted, but when he wakes up in the morning, he finds that that some bunnies have come and eaten his vegetables while he’s been sleeping. Mr. McGreely goes to ridiculous lengths to keep the bunnies out of his garden, but these little bunnies are pretty clever. I love the sound words in this book. It’s a funny, great read-aloud.

The multiplying rabbits from The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett. In this silly picture book, readers follow month by month, the happenings of rabbits in a field populated by one, then two, then three, then… well, let’s just say that things get pretty out of control come June, and that’s only HALFWAY through the year! This book has great, interactive, pop-up illustrations.

Rabbit from Carrot Soup by John Seger. Rabbit loves carrots. He is very careful about planning and planting his garden. But, when he goes to harvest all his delicious carrots, they’ve vanished! I think the whimsical illustrations in this book are wonderful and the resolution of the story is so fun. I love reading this with my daughters and pointing out the trickery that is happening behind Rabbit’s back.

Rabbit from My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann. This rabbit just can’t seem to keep himself out of some sort of trouble, especially when he tries to fix something he’s made a mess of. This picture book has few words, and they’re not needed as the fantastic illustrations do the job of telling the story. This book won the Caldecott Medal in 2003.

White Rabbit from White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker. White Rabbit finds three tubs of paint and can’t help but jump into them. This book does a fantastic job of teaching colors and goes a step further to show how red, blue, and yellow combine in different ways to make other colors.