These Bunnies Are Dumb, But the Book's Smarter Than It Claims

Easter is in two and a half weeks. 'Tis the season to see bunnies. Lots and lots of bunnies. Furry brown bunnies, pink marshmallow bunnies, pure white bunnies that makes clucking noises as they lay Cadbury eggs. It means bunnies at the library too, on prominent display throughout the children's area. Bunnies in books like Sue Denim's The Dumb Bunnies.

Now, these pale, pinkish rabbits with gigantic buck teeth and strange wardrobes are not especially cuddly as bunnies go. Thanks to the illustrations of Dav Pilkey of Captain Underpants fame, they look more deranged than adorable, but that's okay, since their story is just one nonsensical moment after another. It's a re-worked version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You could almost say Goldilocks and the Three Hares... But these aren't hares. They're chubby rabbits with mushy brains. And they don't mind living inside a book whose cover bears a shiny sticker that reads: "This book is TOO DUMB to win an award."

Well. It is pretty silly, that's for sure, but it's calculated silliness, a barrage of sight gags and puns with the same creativity behind it as Airplane!, Monty Python and other similarly over-the-top displays of comedy. Momma spends the duration of this book in pointy, blue-framed glasses and a very unflattering old-fashioned bikini. Poppa wears nothing but an extra-large pair of red-spotted briefs. Baby, who is supposedly the dumbest of the bunch, looks normal by comparison in a pair of red shorts.

Like the bears, the bunnies fix some porridge for themselves and face a similar temperature problem. Poppa sticks his too-hot porridge in the oven; Momma blows on her too-cold porridge; Baby dumps his perfect porridge down his pants. And then they go out for a day on the town, during which time Little Red Goldilocks (who does have gold hair but no red clothing) breaks in and makes a mess of things, to the perverse delight of the bunnies.

What I really like about this book, more than the silly subversion of the classic story, are the portions of the illustrations that must be read. Books in the library, for instance, and signs on the bottom of the lake. As entertainingly absurdist as Denim's text is, Pilkey seems to be the greater wit, giving us warnings about peanut butter fish along with the cautions against jellyfish, having the bunnies eat from a bucket of Kentucky Fried Carrots and displaying books with titles like The Condo That Jack Subleased, The Second to the Last of the Mohicans, Moby Richard and Green Eggs and Tofu.

The Dumb Bunnies is a funny book with humor that works on two levels. Some of the gags may be slightly off-putting to those with demure tastes, but most will find something to laugh at here, so despite valiant attempts to convince us otherwise, this book is not so dumb after all.