If You Were My Bunny

by Kate McMullan, David McPhail (Illustrator)

A lyrical text and adorable illustrations follow the bedtime lullabies of various animal mamas as they tell their little ones what they would do for their baby in a board-book version of a best-selling story.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Music, Family, Love

24 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Kate McMullan is an American children's book author.
She is the author of the Dragon Slayers' Academy series. She is married to author and illustrator James McMullan.

She also has books published under the name: Katy Hall.

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I used to read and sing to my younger daughter, Michelle. You read a few words by the parent mother (bunny, bear, cat, duck, dog) but mostly you sing.

There is a mama bunny singing a lullabye to the tune, "Hush, Little Baby", and a mama bear singing to her bear cub, to the melody, "Sleep, Baby Sleep". A mama cat sings to her kitten to the tune of "Rock-a-Bye, Baby"; the mama duck song can be sung to the tune of, "Twinkle-Twinkle, Little Star" and the mama dog's song may be sung to the melody of "Lullaby and Good Night." I did better with some of these than others, but my daughter Michelle has a beautiful voice with excellent pitch, so I know she will do fine. Since I only just found this book, I decided this must be meant for her second child (whenever there is one) and I think she will appreciate that as she was also a second child, and they need to have a few things of their very own.

[Asho · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. The first time I read it to my baby he was less than 2 weeks old and I sobbed the whole time I read it because I was so overwhelmed by the sweet stories of mommy animals singing their babies to sleep and the realization that I finally had my own baby to rock to sleep. This book no longer makes me cry (and, let's be honest, that was probably more a result of post partum hormones than the book itself), but I still pick it out for our bedtime story once every couple of weeks because I love it. The poems are intended to be sung to the tune of familiar lullabies like Rock-a-bye Baby and Hush Little Baby. I enjoy singing to my baby so I sing this book, but it's just as sweet when read.

[Updated December 2014]
I am now reading this book to my newborn baby girl, and it is still just as sweet as ever. She finds it just as soothing as her big brother did.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too wordy for toddlers, good for preschoolers.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/2/18 Read with Julia.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet book! Readers should be prepared to sing! My toddler loves this one.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this reissued version of a popular classic story, parents and caregivers are given directions and questions to pose as they share the book with their little ones. Each image is accompanied by a lullaby as various animals, including a bunny, a bear cub, and a duckling, among others lull their little ones to sleep with reassuring words and a soft tune. The final two pages show a human mother and child enjoying their bedtime ritual as she sings to him, tucks him in, and leaves him to sleep with his stuffed animal. The illustrations feature soft colors that are just as comforting as the words, and there are additional activities and questions to accompany the book inside its back cover. This is part of the Story Play series, and all of the titles, including this one, will be well loved.

[ke-sha]

It was okay....

[Laurie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love finding singable picture books, and this one is very sweet for bedtime. A mother tells her child all the ways she would care for her baby if they were different animals, and each animal poem can be sung to a different traditional lullaby. Lovely.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made up my own tune for "Sleep, Bear Cub, Sleep" with a nice little surprise in the melody and now I don't want anybody to tell me how it really goes.

Anyway I really like singing these.

[Bobbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, I enjoyed reading it to my younger granddaughter.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I have enjoyed reading to my children and now my daughter's children. If you ever wonder what I believe to be the best activity for a child of six weeks old could be? you will have your answer here. I have kept this book in my collectibles for over 20 years.

This little book has a rhyme and suggested lullabye tunes to sing along with your baby. These precious words and sweet illustrations are especially made to start a little lifetime with love.

The lyrics are made for cuddling and have made all my infants look up at me and coo and wuffle me with wonder in their dear little eyes...and as these children grow, they associate this and the rest of their collection of books we read together with love and especially good memories of the time we spent, along with the gentle rhythm of reading (and singing) out loud.

[Barb Boardman-Pavao · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ALL TIME FAVORITE children’s book!!! I read this to my children every night with them snuggled in my lap. I’m normally not one to sing to my child, but I LOVED this book and felt very comfortable singing these charming animal lullabies to well known tunes.

This is my baby gift to all new parents.

[LadyHague · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet and loving between mother animals and their babies. However, I wish I had known which song tunes I would need to know to sing the verses appropriately. Also, there are a lot of words for a board book. My 6 & 7 loves it though.

[Rhica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one as a kid, but I still love the cute adapted songs!

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children would really appreciate this.

[Patreesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not keen on some of the illustrations, but a fun book to share with children.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great group read aloud, but a sweet bedtime story for little ones.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read-aloud book

[Alicia Steagall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a adorable story I love the songs in it the lullabies are awesome

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book

[SiSi A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect bedtime book; Sing-song picture book with pages of love for your little one!

[Christine Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was too cute! I almost wanted a baby to read it to

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming bedtime book about motherly love sung to the tunes of classic lullabies. If You Were My Bunny is the story of a mother telling her child, “if you were my…” bunny, bear cub, kitten, duckling, puppy, and finally baby, and how she would put each one to bed. Each little story is followed by a song specific to the animal mentioned and sung to the tune of a classic lullaby. The lullabies include “Hush, Little Baby,” “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” “Rock-a-Bye, Baby,” “Twinkle-Twinkle, Little Star,” and “Lullaby and Good Night,” all are familiar classic lullabies that most will know already or easily be able to learn. The back of the book has a note to parents which tells which animal lullabies are sung to which tune. The stories are sweet and charming and also include some educational details in reference to the specific animals’ features, places they live, etc., such as that the mama cat carries her kitten by the scruff of its neck and licks the kitten with her rough pink tongue. The illustrations are soft and soothing watercolors, perfect for calm bedtime reading. The book is suitable for newborns through toddlers 3 or 4 years of age, and the way it is set up it is easy for parents to read just one story out of the book or sing the lullabies individually, or read the entire book through depending on the child’s age and attention span. If You Were My Bunny is a sweet and soothing bedtime book that, as long as parents aren’t afraid to sing a little, will be enjoyed by both parent and child very much.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for newborn through age 3 or 4 years.

Themes/Issues:
Bedtime, lullabies, animal babies.

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Print Motivation: Encourages print motivation by being an enjoyable and sweet bedtime lullaby story for the youngest of babies up through toddlers.

Vocabulary: Encourages vocabulary learning through the various objects mentioned in the text and songs, and pictured in the illustrations throughout the book.

Print Awareness: The text is easily recognizable, it is often found on top of a bright white background, and the text that is included over illustration is not obscured by the illustrated background.

Narrative Skills: The repetitious introduction to each story, “If you were my…, and I were your mama…” allow the child to learn some of the words of each story. The songs sung to familiar lullabies encourage older babies and toddlers to sing along with their parent.

Phonological Awareness: Allows phonological awareness through the use of songs sung to familiar lullabies.

Letter Knowledge: N/A

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I highly recommend that readers take some time with this book before attempting to read it aloud. It's a sweet idea - mama animals are singing to the baby animals, but each song is rhymed to a different lullaby, and if you don't know that ahead of time, the cadence will be off. I had a hard time just reading it, and it wasn't til I got to the last page where the author explains how the book works. Might have been more helpful in the beginning. But now that I know, I'll probably enjoy it more.

What I won't do, though, is use it with the baby any time soon. This book really isn't suited for board book format, and it certainly won't hold her interest. I bet I would have liked it better in regular picture book format. Especially because I'm a sappy mama animal.

[jacky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natalie picked this one out. It turned out to be a nice collection of lullabies adapted to be about animals. I recommend parents read the last page to themselves first. That page tells you what tune to sing the lullabies to, which would have helped me out on a couple of them. A few animals are showcased. For each one, there is a page of text, then the lullaby on the next page. This would make a great bed time book because you could read all of them or just one and they are all different, yet still have a lullaby flavor.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both my toddler and infant love this book. It tells of five different mama animals putting their babies to sleep. Each sings her baby a lullaby with altered wording. Finally, a mother tucks her child in with a hug and kiss, and he falls asleep. The last page tells which tune to sing for each lullaby. It is great for bedtime.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be my all time favorite book to read to my kids. Each double page spread features an animals and starst out as "if you were my bunny" or "if you were my bear cub". Then there is a song about each animal mother and baby that is set to a common lullaby. My daughter loves the songs and she can sing most of the them to me, but she loves to snuggle up to me and read this story.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a cute book-- the parent is singing the child lullabies appropriate to different animal parent-child pairs. My son liked it. The pictures are adorable! But, because most of the text is re-written lullabies, it's a frustrating read for a parent who is a terrible or non-existent singer like me. If you're a good singer, though, this is great.

[Paige Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rhyming in this book makes it great for children who are engaged by rhyme scheme and songs (the lullabies can be sung to tunes of known songs). The parent animal talking to its baby is interesting to children and is brought together at the end when a mom talks to her son in the same way as the animals.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

My little one gobbled up the cuteness. I butchered the tunes (I naturally only knew the correct melody for the first lullaby). When I got to the final page, I wondered how many other readers had that "Duh! If only this was at the beginning I could have read brilliantly vs. sounding like a confused goose.