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Bad Easter Bunny
We're talking no more Mr. Nice Bunny!
Every spring, the Easter Bunny frolics through every neighborhood in every city to hand out candy and toys to children. The problem is he feels a total lack of gratitude from them. He's getting sadder and sadder, and in turn, his once bright-pink fur has gone a depressing shade of blue. His fur really does reflect how he is feeling inside. When a group of highly excitable children knock him to the ground, he sees all of the colors of the rainbow and settles on a hopping red color. The Easter Bunny is furious! He’s tired of being taken for granted and has decided to become the Bad Easter Bunny.
He sets about smashing toys, eating all the candy, and making a big mess of the neighborhood. But a simple "thank you" from one little girl on a scooter makes the Bad Easter Bunny regret his actions. A small hug and sharing a piece of candy makes the Easter Bunny turn a happy pink, and he promises to be bad no more. In this fun and quirky children's book, Stéphanie Röhr's magical illustrations show how one good bunny turned very bad—and how important gratitude can be.
Every spring, the Easter Bunny frolics through every neighborhood in every city to hand out candy and toys to children. The problem is he feels a total lack of gratitude from them. He's getting sadder and sadder, and in turn, his once bright-pink fur has gone a depressing shade of blue. His fur really does reflect how he is feeling inside. When a group of highly excitable children knock him to the ground, he sees all of the colors of the rainbow and settles on a hopping red color. The Easter Bunny is furious! He’s tired of being taken for granted and has decided to become the Bad Easter Bunny.
He sets about smashing toys, eating all the candy, and making a big mess of the neighborhood. But a simple "thank you" from one little girl on a scooter makes the Bad Easter Bunny regret his actions. A small hug and sharing a piece of candy makes the Easter Bunny turn a happy pink, and he promises to be bad no more. In this fun and quirky children's book, Stéphanie Röhr's magical illustrations show how one good bunny turned very bad—and how important gratitude can be.
32 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Isabel Atherton
6 books20 followersIsabel Atherton is an author, a literary agent, and director of Creative Authors Ltd. 'Zombie Cat: The Tale of a Decomposing Kitty' (with illustrator Bethany Straker) is a dark and humorous adult picture book. It is published October 2012 by Skyhorse Publishing. You can see more about the book here: http://www.zombiecat2012.co.uk.
Isabel also writes children's picture books and these include: 'The Bad Easter Bunny' with illustrator Stephanie Rohr (pub. Feb 2013) and 'Smelly Ghost' with illustrator Bethany Straker (pub. Fall 2013). These are both published by Sky Pony.
Isabel splits her time between London and Whitstable - a seaside town in Kent, UK.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.
Isabel also writes children's picture books and these include: 'The Bad Easter Bunny' with illustrator Stephanie Rohr (pub. Feb 2013) and 'Smelly Ghost' with illustrator Bethany Straker (pub. Fall 2013). These are both published by Sky Pony.
Isabel splits her time between London and Whitstable - a seaside town in Kent, UK.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 4, 2019
I liked--though I'm not sure small children would like--the colorful, wild and jarring, (seemingly) Ralph Steadman-influenced illustration by Stephanie Rohr more than its story, though like I said, it was jarring. I read this for Easter 2019 because I was looking for something unconventional and satirical. It's about an Easter Bunny who gets mad and goes crazy-Bad Santa-ishly destructive because kids don't thank him. Until one does, and then shazam! everything is all right with the world. An Easter story kind of about the importance of thanking people and making them feel better, and telling kids they should say thanks to others, which is an okay, but kinda weird, thing to make an Easter (well, Easter bunny) book about, I thought. But it's okay, it has a title that was inviting enough for me to order it from the library.
April 21, 2019
How can a book simultaneously be preachy and also offer a terrible message? I don't know, but this book manages to do it.
The Easter Bunny is tired of being underappreciated. The thing is, the Easter Bunny isn't real, doesn't bring treats, and therefore doesn't really need to be appreciated. The book shows him interacting with children, and while that situation would require expressions of gratitude, it doesn't reflect the real world at all.
So, anyway, the Easter Bunny decides to throw a hissy fit because children are being pushy and greedy for candy. He turns red and destroys all of the Easter candy, toys, and treats. Then he feels kind of bad. A little girl on a scooter happens by, and she asks him what's wrong. When he tells her, she says, "Just because someone doesn't always say they are grateful doesn't mean that they're not." So the Easter Bunny sees the error of his ways, finds an undamaged chocolate egg, and shares it with his new friend. The book ends with quite possibly one of the most heavy-handed messages I've ever seen in a children's book, with EB realizing that being bad won't solve your problems and that "thank you" is an awesome thing to say.
Tacking on that message at the very end (it's literally the last sentence) to try to negate everything that was shown in the story doesn't work. The little girl only came along because EB had his hissy fit and destroyed everything. Without that happening, he wouldn't have come to his conclusion. So the real moral of the story appears to be: Act out your frustrations so that people can see how you're feeling and offer help. That's not a great thing to be teaching kids. We want them to be able to regulate their emotions... not rely on them for the outbursts that will be the catalysts for change. Even more disturbing is the fact that EB seems to consciously decide to be bad as a result of feeling underappreciated. There's yet another questionable message.
The illustrations are kind of creepy and not at all appealing. When I got to the part about EB turning red with anger, I wondered if maybe this was supposed to be a book for adults. (It does almost read like the ramblings of a frustrated, overworked parent who never gets a "thank you" for what they do.) But the clumsy messaging makes it pretty clear that this is a kids' title. In the e-book version I read, many of the illustrations appeared to be distorted, too, as if they were meant to be rectangular and yet had been squished into a square.
I really didn't enjoy this. But it was one of the only e-book Easter offerings our library had, other than a book that encourages kids to trap the Easter Bunny. Now that would be a good reason for that rabbit to get angry; expecting an in-person expression of thanks from children who aren't even supposed to see him in the first place seems unrealistic and entitled.
The Easter Bunny is tired of being underappreciated. The thing is, the Easter Bunny isn't real, doesn't bring treats, and therefore doesn't really need to be appreciated. The book shows him interacting with children, and while that situation would require expressions of gratitude, it doesn't reflect the real world at all.
So, anyway, the Easter Bunny decides to throw a hissy fit because children are being pushy and greedy for candy. He turns red and destroys all of the Easter candy, toys, and treats. Then he feels kind of bad. A little girl on a scooter happens by, and she asks him what's wrong. When he tells her, she says, "Just because someone doesn't always say they are grateful doesn't mean that they're not." So the Easter Bunny sees the error of his ways, finds an undamaged chocolate egg, and shares it with his new friend. The book ends with quite possibly one of the most heavy-handed messages I've ever seen in a children's book, with EB realizing that being bad won't solve your problems and that "thank you" is an awesome thing to say.
Tacking on that message at the very end (it's literally the last sentence) to try to negate everything that was shown in the story doesn't work. The little girl only came along because EB had his hissy fit and destroyed everything. Without that happening, he wouldn't have come to his conclusion. So the real moral of the story appears to be: Act out your frustrations so that people can see how you're feeling and offer help. That's not a great thing to be teaching kids. We want them to be able to regulate their emotions... not rely on them for the outbursts that will be the catalysts for change. Even more disturbing is the fact that EB seems to consciously decide to be bad as a result of feeling underappreciated. There's yet another questionable message.
The illustrations are kind of creepy and not at all appealing. When I got to the part about EB turning red with anger, I wondered if maybe this was supposed to be a book for adults. (It does almost read like the ramblings of a frustrated, overworked parent who never gets a "thank you" for what they do.) But the clumsy messaging makes it pretty clear that this is a kids' title. In the e-book version I read, many of the illustrations appeared to be distorted, too, as if they were meant to be rectangular and yet had been squished into a square.
I really didn't enjoy this. But it was one of the only e-book Easter offerings our library had, other than a book that encourages kids to trap the Easter Bunny. Now that would be a good reason for that rabbit to get angry; expecting an in-person expression of thanks from children who aren't even supposed to see him in the first place seems unrealistic and entitled.
March 9, 2013
The Easter Bunny doesn’t feel appreciated for all his efforts. This literally makes him blue. But his sadness soon turns to anger and he causes lots of havoc in the neighborhood. When a little girl expresses her gratitude, things change for the better. Fun illustrations and a good message make this picture book a good read for the family.
February 16, 2013
Hilarious!
June 18, 2013
Lovely Illustrations - Great twist in the conclusion sprinkled with a hint of darkness throughout the storyline. An excellent take on the traditional theme of the Easter Bunny.
April 14, 2019
A great message, show appreciation!! We could use so much more in this world. Illustrations were done quite well - the angry bunny was quite scary looking!
April 17, 2019
Good message. Odd illustrations. In desparate need of an editor.
March 22, 2022
I don't know what could have possibly possessed anyone to create, publish, or sell/buy this abomination. The moral here is something along the lines of "don't treat the Easter Bunny like a doormat." Which is a good message: let's show gratitude to those who are kind to us.
(Although how exactly we are supposed to show gratitude to the Easter Bunny is a bit of a conundrum, if you ask me, seeing as how we never actually encounter the elusive creature.)
But I digress: my point here is that a good message alone is not enough to make a good book! Here we have atrociously ugly illustrations (see cover) and a preachy, predictable story that was slapped together with zero care; and it all comes wrapped up in the most uninspired language imaginable. I weep for the trees that had to die for this.
(Although how exactly we are supposed to show gratitude to the Easter Bunny is a bit of a conundrum, if you ask me, seeing as how we never actually encounter the elusive creature.)
But I digress: my point here is that a good message alone is not enough to make a good book! Here we have atrociously ugly illustrations (see cover) and a preachy, predictable story that was slapped together with zero care; and it all comes wrapped up in the most uninspired language imaginable. I weep for the trees that had to die for this.
April 2, 2024
My kid loves it when goody-two shoes characters become "bad eggs" (mind the Easter puns). Yeah he appreciates a complex character who isn't feeling nice or necessarily able to be nice because of their big feelings.
March 18, 2013
Geez, I don't even know where to begin! It's just Lame!
July 23, 2015
I liked the concept :)
April 12, 2017
Super cute
My son loves it. He reads it to me. It's great. Perfect to teach the words thank you and how precious they really are.
My son loves it. He reads it to me. It's great. Perfect to teach the words thank you and how precious they really are.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews