Hush, Little Bunny is a cute reimagining of Hush Little Baby and Guess How Much I Love You, stories. David Ezra Stein has taken this sweet lullaby and updated it slightly. What you loved is there, the rhyming and the “Papa will give you” lines. And the love the parent rabbit gives to the baby rabbit is just as touching. There are just a few newer elements such Papa will growl at bunnies who do not play fair. But overall, there is nothing new. What you see is what you get.
And what you get is fine. The illustrations are also reminiscent of Anita Jeram’s Guess How Much I Love You illustrations. What they are not reminiscent of is Stein’s own artwork. If I had not seen on the back flap, or the fact it was right next to it on the shelf, that he was the author and illustrator of Interrupting Chicken I would not have realized it. You could have knocked me over with a feather with this piece of information.
Therefore, I picked up what I thought was Interrupting Chicken, but turned out to be Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise. Not having read the first, I am not sure how well it holds up to the original. But unlike some sequels, this book is a standalone title that you do not have to have read the first book to appreciate. And while I like the pun of the elephant of surprise/element of surprise, the fact there IS an interrupting chicken, gets old fast. The colors are what makes this book a visual treat. They embody the story quite nicely.
I know of at least one adult who was just madly taken with our Chicken friend. This is a read-aloud title, but for an older audience. Hush, Little Bunny will be a hit with most parents/teachers/grandparents. A younger child might enjoy it more than the older toddler. I would have liked to see this in a larger board book as it is lost in the traditional hardcover size.
