Nobunny's Perfect

by Anna Dewdney

In simple sentences and sweet illustrations, Nobunny’s Perfect is an ideal introduction to behavior that young children will understand and enjoy. And, most importantly, it will make a bunny proud to be the best bunny he can be!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Rabbits, Storytime, Emotion, Friendship

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 24, 2008

About the author

Anna Dewdney was an award-winning children's-book author, illustrator, teacher, mother, and enthusiastic proponent of literacy and reading aloud to children. She was the author of the bestselling Llama Llama Red Pajama series of picturebooks, among many others. She lived with her partner Reed Duncan in Vermont where she worked, gardened, and spent time with her daughters and dogs.

Reviews

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the surface, this book is absolutely adorable. The bunnies are cute and the message that strong feelings can make us do bad things is great. But there is a major flaw in this book that is hard to overcome. The words say, "But sometimes feeling sad or mad can make a little bunny bad." Then later we learn that "Good bunnies try to do what is right." I believe children should never be called "good" or "bad." And never should a child be told they are bad because they have intense emotions like sadness or anger. Children's actions can be good or bad, but children themselves should never be labeled as such. This sends messages that can be devastating.

I was terribly disappointed because there was so much potential in this book. Change the words and you have a wonderful book on manners using the adorable bunny characters.

[Mahafreed · Rating 5 out of 5]

If my son reads a book more than five times, it’s a hit.

[Jinya Situ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some reason I don’t like this book . This book like teaching child when they have bad mood ,they can have some bad behavior like fighting with other, i think it is not correct to teach children behavior like this .however , I would read this book in front of children because i would like to teach children even though we have a bad time in our life ,we can do some thing to hurt our friends and families. When children listened to this book ,they might said it was not good for bunny to hit his/her friend.the bunny was not good

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of bunnies who displays bad habits when they're angry, and what a good bunny should do to display good manners.

[Brianna Deines]

1.) Primary - Independent read. Although, Paige could read this aloud to a younger sibling or book buddy.
2.)I picked this book for Paige because all the characters are rabbits. She has two of her own rabbits and answered that if an author was going to write a book just for her it would be about her pets. Plus the moral of the story is about doing right and I felt that followed with her being a girl scout.
3.)"Paige, I know you love your bunnies! I found this book and all the characters are rabbits and some of these little bunnies are stinkers but I think some of them know how to behave. I bet you could read this to your book buddy this week and talk about right and wrong behaviors."

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this when I first read it, but when I read it in toddler story time, it started to feel really preachy, and like I was accusing my toddlers of being bad. (There was an audible gasp when I got to the line about bad bunnines biting.) This would be a good book for parents dealing with behavioral issues, or wanting to talk about what good behavior is, but it went wrong in story time! I do really enjoy the illustrations--I know it's not kosher to say a kid's book is "cute" but these illustrations are so full of cute, I can't help it!

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of books that talk about bad manners because it makes them look fun to do. Much more fun than when they get around to talking about the good manners.

[Emi えみ Takami 鷹見 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable way to teach kids manners. The illustrations are cute and funny!

On display at our library

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute book about using our manners

[Grace Tandy]

This book has no plot or storyline, but it shows the difference between badly-behaved bunnies and well-behaved bunnies. It shows how someone can act when they are mad or sad. They grab and do not share. They may hit or kick, have bad manners, or do not use "please" or "thank you". They find it hard to express how they feel. Good bunnies, however, use kind words, ask before they take, and are kind to people. They follow the rules and stand in line, and give a hug when someone cries.

NoBunny's Perfect is demonstrating their opinions on how children should act towards people. Children may get lost or distracted when there is a lack of a storyline. There is not a lot of excitement when it comes to this book. It was not intriguing to me.

If the book had more of a storyline, I would be inclined to use it in my classroom. It could teach good and behaviors in my classroom. Showcasing food behaviors would be beneficial, especially to set expectations for my classroom in the first days of school.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

All little bunnies are good, but they can become mad or sad and this can cause them to act out. Bad bunnies may not play fair, kick their friends, burp and spit out their food, or scream. But, that is not the type of bunny you want to be, you want to be a good bunny. A good bunny uses their words instead of biting, are nice to their friends and follow the rules. Bunnies should not be mad or rude; instead, they should be polite, kind and use their good manners. “Good for you!” for being a good bunny.

This book directly relates to children at young ages as they often become upset and tend to act out. This would be a good book to teach the lesson that even if things happen, you can still use your manners and not use bad behavior. I recommend this book for preschoolers as they learn to interact with others and behave kindly even if they are sad, hurt, or grumpy.

[Taylor Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about how bunnies try to be good, but sometimes it is hard. It pictures bunnies throwing a fit when their toy breaks and taking another bunny's toy. Then it pictures them learning how to share. It also shows bunnies not having good manners at snack time, and then them learning how to have better manners.

This was a cute book! I loved how they used bunnies to describe different habits all kids have and how to change them. This will really connect with kids!

I think this book would be best used when trying to teach kids about manners. It shows them what they are doing and why that is wrong. Then it shows how they can change their behavior to be nice.

[Stephanie Cunningham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nobunny’s Perfect is a simple book that rhymes about bunny’s bad behavior. The bunny’s have bad manners and are spitting their food and slurping their juice. But the book reveals that bunny’s who share and are caring make everyone themselves and other bunny’s happier. This book shows that good behavior and manners are best for everyone.
This wasn’t my favorite book to read. I think the book had a good lesson but it was a very low reading level so it didn’t have much to the story. I would use this in a very very young class to teach the students about proper behavior and manners.

[Jordyn Pounders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is all about manners! It talks about what bad bunnies do and how nobody wants to be around a bad person. Then it goes into detail about what good bunnies do and how that is how you are really supposed to act.
I thought this story was super cute and would work great in a classroom to teach students about manners and good or bad behavior.

[Olivia S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. I didn't notice that this was Anna Dewdney, but it reminded me of her as soon as I started reading. Her rhyme and sense of humour are great. Adorable story about manners and behaving as a good bunny, and about how everybunny is a sad/mad/bad bunny sometimes. Board book, in the program collection.

[Brigitte Brulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet rhyming story that teaches little ones about manners. Follow the bunny from beginning to end and see how is attitude changes.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parents, beware of perfection. Put on your rabbit ears. What is it like to be imperfect? What is it like to move and live and breathe as a bunny child?

[Ashlyn Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute little book! This book is about bunnies who try to do the right thing but find that it is not always easy. They discover that sometimes they need help remembering how they should share and care for others. These bunnies in the book demonstrate good habits about how someone should act. This book helps to teach a child to be the best that he/she can be. Although this book is really cute, I would not use it as a CLS. This book is more about teaching your child manners and how to be respectful to other. I see it being used in a classroom while kids are developing and learning how to share with other. I would want more therapeutic books that would help the children relate or teach them things about their diagnosis in the hospital.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gift to my daughter and it was absolutely adorable. I can see using this why she starts having crazy tantrums and stops being adorable.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about manners and how life is when you're a kid and how to treat others.

I.B. Unit of Inquiry : Manners Matter

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Anna Dewdney books

[Lydia Radke]

This story is a cute story about how to behave and treat others. It would be a good book to use in a classroom with younger children, to go over classroom rules.

[Tracy Mabry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, rhymey, cute!

[L M]

A wonderful, relatable book about feelings and choices with Dewdney’s adorable drawings

[Avett Huggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagination library book!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has cute illustrations and the rhyming was just superb. I love it when stories rhyme and I highly enjoyed the rhyming in this one. It's a nice story about how nobunny (nobody) is perfect with a lesson on sharing and good manners.

[Natalie Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobunny’s Perfect by Anna Dewdney utilizes relatable characters and dialogue to explain manners and proper etiquette to toddler-aged children. The story begins by demonstrating that most “bunnies” are good and behave in a manner in which they should. However, the story transitions over by explaining that emotions and feelings can drive these “bunnies” to act in an inappropriate manner. The author lists impolite behavior to emphasize the inapt actions of the bunnies. She then reverts back to the proper etiquette of the bunnies, accentuating the manners in which children should have. This story serves as a vital teaching moment in children’s live as it explains expected conduct of them. This story was very relatable to my early childhood as my grandmother would take me to tea parties, trying to demonstrate the proper etiquette of a young lady. I would highly recommend this story for young children as it can serve as a mechanism in which parents and teachers can direct children’s behavior. I gave this story a five star rating due to the mechanism in which etiquette and manners are presented to young children.

[Melissa S.]

I was not thrilled to read that feeling mad or sad and not using words are all bad things. Since my child hasn't learned how to talk yet, the message says he's bad for not talking. I do not agree that feeling emotions is bad, even if the emotions are negative. I understand the message behind the book and find it to be a cute way to demonstrate sharing and caring. However, the subliminal messages disagree with the lessons I'm teaching my child. I believe every emotion is okay and that expressing them is a positive thing. The illustrations are cute and help with the simple messages being expressed, but not ideally something I'm teaching my child. This slightly reminds me of Beatrix Potter's stories. The first few were cute, but as we continued to read more, I understood those stories were not appropriate for my child. I immediately stopped reading them when we read a story about the bunnies being kidnapped. Thankfully, this book is not nearly so dark, but it's not aligned with what I am instilling in my child.

[Laudys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, clean illustrations with cute rhymes and a very important message. And how adorable were those bunnies biting each other's tails. Awww.

But, I have a problem with this book. I was taught that 's is used to determine ownership. For example, Kathia's bag, which means that the bag belongs to Kathia. If I say Kathia's pretty, how does Kathia possess or have "pretty" when she should be pretty?

For that reason, I believe that the title should read Nobunny is perfect. It happen twice inside the book. It may mean nothing, but it was incredibly distracting to me.

[Jessalyn Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobunny’s Perfect is a cute pun and is a great way to introduce manners into the classroom. The book starts off by assuring the reader that every bunny is initially good, but sometimes they do things that are not okay. This list of things good bunnies do and the list of things bad bunnies do go along to a sing-song rhyming rhythm that helps children remember. Dewdney also offers positive alternatives to the bad bunny decisions listed in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and think it is the perfect way to introduce manners and the concept of good and bad decisions.