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Buddy and the Bunnies: In Don't Play with Your Food
Rahhhhhh! Buddy's a monster, and he's hungry! Time for all cute little bunnies to hop into his mouth. But the bunnies have other plans...
like baking cupcakes,
going for a swim,
playing at the carnival,
and starting a Buddy fan club.
He'll just have to eat them tomorrow.
Maybe.
36 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2014
5 people are currently reading
858 people want to read
About the author
Bob Shea
61 books350 followersBob Shea has written and illustrated over a dozen picture books including the popular Dinosaur vs. Bedtime and the cult favorite Big Plans illustrated by Lane Smith.
His characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids.
Bob spends his days writing, drawing and having “conversations” with NPR.
His characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids.
Bob spends his days writing, drawing and having “conversations” with NPR.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 259 reviews
January 22, 2014
I enjoyed this book because-
Reason 1:
It would be fun to read aloud. I love doing monster voices and there's plenty of opportunity for that in this story.
Reason 2:
There are little bits of humor tucked away for grownups, like when the monster who wants to eat the bunnies who keep distracting him with friendship notices that there were seven bunnies yesterday and today there are more.
Amusing!
Reason 3:
I like the illustrations. I like the expressions on everyone's faces and I like the colors.
Reason 4:
I like the thought of eating bunnies but I like better the thought of bunnies that bake cupcakes and form clubs.
Reason 1:
It would be fun to read aloud. I love doing monster voices and there's plenty of opportunity for that in this story.
Reason 2:
There are little bits of humor tucked away for grownups, like when the monster who wants to eat the bunnies who keep distracting him with friendship notices that there were seven bunnies yesterday and today there are more.
Amusing!
Reason 3:
I like the illustrations. I like the expressions on everyone's faces and I like the colors.
Reason 4:
I like the thought of eating bunnies but I like better the thought of bunnies that bake cupcakes and form clubs.
September 23, 2014
Bunnies, cute bunnies. The monster never had a chance!
July 15, 2016
Moral of the story: "Don't eat your friends!" Words of wisdom to live by.
August 11, 2014
Bob Shea is awesome and creating books which are simultaneously EXTREMELY cute with a nice edge of snark.
Library copy
Library copy
February 19, 2018
My mom always told me not to play with my food. Then I grew up and became a vegetarian. I guess this book explains why.
February 19, 2020
Sups cute!
September 24, 2014
A tough guy overcomes his instincts to make friends. In the vein of Big Mean Mike
January 31, 2014
Awesome.
January 20, 2014
Awww, this is one cute book! I can't wait to read it aloud to a group. Great job with illustrations.
December 4, 2014
Very cute, funny, and clever picture book. I think kids in storytime would get a kick out of the bunnies convincing the monster they are his friend and therefore not his food :-)
August 19, 2015
Might be a good one for Halloween next year since we get a young crowd. Just missed trying it in my rabbit program.
October 5, 2016
Great funny silly book
March 28, 2018
Buddy is a monster and is supposed to eat bunnies. But bunnies are clever enough to make Buddy their friend by playing hide-and-seek, baking cupcakes, swimming, and forming a fan club.
Buddy the monster's character is appealing to me because of his naiveness. He is supposed to eat bunnies and he threatens them. However, the illustrations show a different story from the texts. For instance, a scene in which Buddy interacts with the bunnies is full of pink and purple flowers with green backgrounds. Even though he said, “I’m going to eat all you bunnies! (Unpaged)” while showing his sharp teeth, the illustrations represent fun and joyful moods. Moreover, the name of the monster, Buddy, implies that he would be friendly. Personally, I liked the facial expressions and gestures of the characters in illustrations. When Buddy and bunnies swim together, I could see Buddy's happiness from being on the tube as he was smiling and waving his hands and legs. The colors of the illustrations are very vivid as they are made up of bright yellowish greens, pinks, and light blues. The front and end pages also illustrate the situations of the beginning and ending of the story. On the front page readers could see three bunnies and Buddy growling "Rahhhhh!" with his glaring eyes. The spaces between the bunnies and Buddy are filled with trees which imply their distances and barriers in relationship and represent their relationship as a predator and prey respectively. On the other hand, when looking at the final page, Buddy dances while surrounded by lots of bunnies without a single tree between them. This distinctive difference in illustrations summarizes the story to audiences. The last thing I loved about this book is the title, don’t play with your food. The title has a kind of double meanings. First is that Buddy should not play with his prey because they could be good friends as the story says. The other meaning could be related to the real life of children. Parents and teachers educate young children not to play with their food. Children do not understand why they could not play with food. This book would not be directly related to the behavior of children at the dinner table, but parents could use this story to teach table manners in fun ways.
Buddy the monster's character is appealing to me because of his naiveness. He is supposed to eat bunnies and he threatens them. However, the illustrations show a different story from the texts. For instance, a scene in which Buddy interacts with the bunnies is full of pink and purple flowers with green backgrounds. Even though he said, “I’m going to eat all you bunnies! (Unpaged)” while showing his sharp teeth, the illustrations represent fun and joyful moods. Moreover, the name of the monster, Buddy, implies that he would be friendly. Personally, I liked the facial expressions and gestures of the characters in illustrations. When Buddy and bunnies swim together, I could see Buddy's happiness from being on the tube as he was smiling and waving his hands and legs. The colors of the illustrations are very vivid as they are made up of bright yellowish greens, pinks, and light blues. The front and end pages also illustrate the situations of the beginning and ending of the story. On the front page readers could see three bunnies and Buddy growling "Rahhhhh!" with his glaring eyes. The spaces between the bunnies and Buddy are filled with trees which imply their distances and barriers in relationship and represent their relationship as a predator and prey respectively. On the other hand, when looking at the final page, Buddy dances while surrounded by lots of bunnies without a single tree between them. This distinctive difference in illustrations summarizes the story to audiences. The last thing I loved about this book is the title, don’t play with your food. The title has a kind of double meanings. First is that Buddy should not play with his prey because they could be good friends as the story says. The other meaning could be related to the real life of children. Parents and teachers educate young children not to play with their food. Children do not understand why they could not play with food. This book would not be directly related to the behavior of children at the dinner table, but parents could use this story to teach table manners in fun ways.
September 27, 2022
Bob Shea has created some of my of all-time-in-recent-years-favorite picture books - which I know makes little sense, but I have so many favorite picture books, his along with many from Mo Willems and Emily Gravett and Rob Scotton... and well, ok, many others, are recent favorites. In any case, Bob Shea has created many must-read-share-enjoy books for the younger crowd such as Dinosaur vs. Bedtime , I'm a Shark , Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great , and the newest title, Buddy and the Bunnies in: Don't Play with Your Food! .
Buddy is a big, orange stripped monster who really wants to eat these cute little bunnies, yet they keep distracting him with things like baking and eating cupcakes, going swimming, and visiting a carnival. These are fun things - playful things - and as everyone knows, you don't play with your food! Buddy can't eat the bunnies - no matter how cute they are - because they are friends.
A cute story (I can really see someone getting into the different voices and making this an awesome read-aloud), with Shea's characteristic bold, lively, comical illustrations. Note - you are not seeing things; the bunnies do multiply!
Buddy is a big, orange stripped monster who really wants to eat these cute little bunnies, yet they keep distracting him with things like baking and eating cupcakes, going swimming, and visiting a carnival. These are fun things - playful things - and as everyone knows, you don't play with your food! Buddy can't eat the bunnies - no matter how cute they are - because they are friends.
A cute story (I can really see someone getting into the different voices and making this an awesome read-aloud), with Shea's characteristic bold, lively, comical illustrations. Note - you are not seeing things; the bunnies do multiply!
March 5, 2018
Summary:
Buddy is a hungry monster seeking a snack to settle his stomach! He tells a group of bunnies to hop in his mouth so that he can eat them, but the bunnies have different plans that may save them from getting eaten, like baking many delicious cupcakes, going for a swim on a hot day, starting a Stripey-Stripe Club to honor Buddy, and playing games and going on rides at a carnival. After each exhausting day, Buddy promises to eat them tomorrow, but will he ever make good on that promise?
Activity:
Rewrite the story as if you were one of the bunnies, and tell the story from your point of view. Include three distractions, different from the ones in the book, that you would use to keep Buddy from eating you and your friends. After this activity is completed, students will share their stories with one other classmate. This will help students understand how we all have different points of view and think about situations in unique ways.
Shea, B. (2014). Buddy and the bunnies in: Don’t play with your food. New York, NY: Disney-Hyperion Books.
Buddy is a hungry monster seeking a snack to settle his stomach! He tells a group of bunnies to hop in his mouth so that he can eat them, but the bunnies have different plans that may save them from getting eaten, like baking many delicious cupcakes, going for a swim on a hot day, starting a Stripey-Stripe Club to honor Buddy, and playing games and going on rides at a carnival. After each exhausting day, Buddy promises to eat them tomorrow, but will he ever make good on that promise?
Activity:
Rewrite the story as if you were one of the bunnies, and tell the story from your point of view. Include three distractions, different from the ones in the book, that you would use to keep Buddy from eating you and your friends. After this activity is completed, students will share their stories with one other classmate. This will help students understand how we all have different points of view and think about situations in unique ways.
Shea, B. (2014). Buddy and the bunnies in: Don’t play with your food. New York, NY: Disney-Hyperion Books.
October 8, 2017
The art in this book was adorable and the message it gives is a good one, even if it's a little in-your-face. And by lesson I don't mean "don't eat people". While that's a good message it's not necessarily the one I think really applies to most people. The lesson I took away from it is to treat anger with kindness and to rely on diplomacy over violence. I might be reading a little too much into this fun kids' book, but the points could definitely be drawn from the story and they're points that people right now seem to need reminding of.
September 11, 2018
I used this as a read aloud wothstudent doing a unit of inquiry into healthy food choices (mainly because they were using books I wanted to read already in their classrooms). It’s hilarious, especially if you do voices for Buddy and the bunnies. One teacher commented on how funny my voices were. Students enjoyed predicting what would happen next and seeing the number of bunnies increase from day to day. Hilarious book!
July 9, 2019
This book was just okay. I thought it was a book that would teach children not to play with their food, silly me. Instead, it's a play on words. And another story about a predator being outsmarted, and befriended by their prey. I was kind of disappointed, and very bored with this book. But the pictures are really cool to look at. Three stars
June 14, 2021
This book just entered our home last week. I’m so glad I took a chance on it without getting a good look inside. It turned out to be a fantastic plot and cute illustrations combined. A play on words that kids will enjoy. A monster defeated by a seemingly lesser force. I recommend it for read alouds.
August 31, 2017
Buddy the monster wants to eat the bunnies, but every time he tries to do just that, they trick him into not eating them.
It's a cute book, typical of an animal or monster trying to eat another animal, but failing at it. Simple illustrations.
It's a cute book, typical of an animal or monster trying to eat another animal, but failing at it. Simple illustrations.
September 24, 2018
It's a funny story about a monster that is going to eat some bunnies, but they distract him and feed him other things to make him full. The bunnies and the monster become friends and the monster can't eat his friends!
October 30, 2018
Grades: Pre-k
Genre: Fiction
This book was cute, I loved the story line of it. It teaches about friendship, and is very entertaining. The pictures are interesting, and I would bring this into my classroom one day. Rate 5-5
Genre: Fiction
This book was cute, I loved the story line of it. It teaches about friendship, and is very entertaining. The pictures are interesting, and I would bring this into my classroom one day. Rate 5-5
May 7, 2017
I loved the clever bunnies! A nice story about unexpected friends.
July 26, 2017
Another very cute Shea book. Still in love with his simple, super colorful illustrations.
June 28, 2017
The bunnies in this book are very cute and clever.
June 30, 2017
Very funny juxtaposition of a hungry monster (oddly named Buddy) and little bunnies. K-5th
August 6, 2017
Oh Bob Shea! You know how to make awesome kids books!
August 17, 2017
Clever bunnies teach a monster that they're better at being friends than his food.
December 1, 2017
The kids really liked this silly little book and I must admit I kinda had a blast doing the voices of Bunny and the Bunnies!
December 13, 2017
Buddy is a monster who wants to eat a group of bunny rabbits but ends up befriending them instead. The illustrations are excellent and I think children would enjoy this cute story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 259 reviews