While browsing through a volume I received for Christmas that lists
hundreds of distinguished children’s books, I was startled to discover
that, despite my familiarity with the cover page, I had never read
Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny,
or if I had, it was too long ago for me to remember it. I headed over
to the online card catalog to put it on hold, and a list of search
engine results included The Runaway Mummy: A Petrifying Parody. So while I put a copy of Brown’s classic on hold, I couldn’t resist requesting the spoof as well.
The Brown story involves a little rabbit announcing his intention to
run away from home. As the youngster plots his shapeshifting escape, his
devoted mother is right behind him every step of the way, matching him
metaphor for metaphor. If he becomes a fish, she will become a
fisherman; if he becomes a bird, she will become a welcoming tree. The
cozy series of images is a wonderful affirmation of love that also
encourages children to think creatively about the relationships between
various objects.
The Runaway Mummy by Michael Rex
follows the same premise, except that the main characters are mummies
instead of bunnies, and all of the scenarios they dream up are rather
ghoulish. Oh, and Mummy Mummy, being a bit overzealous in her protective
instincts, has a habit of unintentionally injuring her child in the
scenes they conjure up. In one two-page spread, she becomes a dragon who
breathes a little too much fire on her little gargoyle to keep him
warm. Later, as “a sky-high monster with razor-sharp claws,” she tickles
her son, now a “humongous beast,” into submission. It reminds me of the
spectacular wizards’ duel in Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. What a dizzying tennis match of transfiguration!
The colorful book follows a simple format. On the left page, Little
Mummy explains his next move, while his mother explains hers on th
right. Each page contains a couple of sentences and a large full-color
illustration. This is followed by a two-page spread showing parent and
child together in this fantasy realm. One fun thing about these pages is
the fact that each new creature has clearly visible mummy wrap on it,
though it sometimes takes a moment to discover just where. Some of it is
very cleverly incorporated. Also very fun: the mother’s horrified
reaction when her tied-up tyke decides that he will become a little boy,
just as the little rabbit does in Runaway Bunny.
The
book is full of fun little details. Most pages involve some degree of
mayhem, banking on some children’s fondness for all things destructive,
but the affection of the mother for her son mostly balances that out. We
don’t see anybody actually injured throughout the book, though a few
buildings take a tumble. Keep an eye out for Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night;
I’m not sure what it’s doing here, but I enjoyed seeing an homage to
one of my favorite paintings jump out at me unexpectedly. I also loved
the sphinx in the shape of a bunny that appears on the back cover.
Runaway Mummy
is the sort of book that is probably best suited to Halloween, though
children who get a kick out of monsters are likely to enjoy it any time
of year, making the tender mother-son lovefest accessible even to those
who would rather see their rabbits attack than cuddle.
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