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Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Ta...
 
by
Deborah Howe

Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (Bunnicula #1)

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83  ·  rating details  ·  27,470 ratings  ·  1,010 reviews
This immensely popular children's story is told from the point of view of a dog named Harold. It all starts when Harold's human family, the Monroes, goes to see the movie Dracula, and young Toby accidentally sits on a baby rabbit wrapped in a bundle on his seat. How could the family help but take the rabbit home and name it Bunnicula? Chester, the literate, sensitive, and...more

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Emlyn Chand
It’s only month #2 of the “books that made me love reading" challenge, and already, I’m noticing a pattern. Last month, I re-reviewed Harold and the Purple Crayon, a book that has had a profound influence on my life. I freely attribute my creativity to the inspiration I received from this happy little picture book, and now I realize that this month’s book, Bunnicula, has had an equally large impact on my life and personality.

Bunnicula made me smart. Seriously, it did.

Yes, I’m raising serious nat...more
Hollowspine
It's been many years since I read this book and I'm not sure if I actually read it myself or had it read to me.

My memories about the story were a bit different from what I experienced now re-hearing it (my brother read it to me while I drove him around Northern Minnesota and North Dakota). I remember feeling a bit more frightened the first time. Of course I was a child when I first heard it, but somehow I remembered it being a lot more chilling. I also remember it being a bit longer, but I suppo...more
Dayna
Bunnicula is a funny mystery book about a vampire rabbit, as told through the eyes of Harold, the family dog. I had my 3rd/4th grade book club read this and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Who wouldn't love a story about a sweet little bunny who uses his fangs to drain vegetables of all their juices? Harold and Chester (the family cat) are in for an adventure as they set out to solve the mystery and to prove the new pet is really a vampire. The dialogue in this book between Chester and Harold is ver...more
Jen
Bunnicula is a pretty perfect children's book: smart, funny and entertaining. It's told from the perspective of Harold, a lovable dog. I was hooked in the first chapter when Harold explains, "In our family, everyone treats everyone else with great respect for his or her intelligence. That goes for animals as well as the people. Everything that happens to them is explained to us. It's never been just 'Good boy, Harold' or 'Use the litter box, Chester' at our house. Oh no, with us it's 'Hey Harold...more
Areeba
Feb 26, 2013 Areeba rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Elementary-Adults (everyone really)
The plot is pretty interesting: Harold (the dog) and Chester (the cat) live with the human family (the Monroes). One night the Monroes bring home a bunny (they name him Bunnicula) who has suspiciously vampire-like characteristics. Chester is determined to find out the truth about Bunnicula and expose it to the Monroe family.
The writing style isn't very 'child-like' but it is slightly whimsical and very easy to read. It's from the point of view of the main character, Harold.
The characters are am...more
Christina
The Monroe family comes home one night from the movies with a new pet- a rabbit named Bunnicula. The cat, Chester, is convinced that Bunnicula is a vampire and enlists the help of Harold the dog (the narrator) to dispense with the monster.

This book is hilarious. My daughter and I read it together in one sitting. You may ask, what exactly is a vampire rabbit? A vampire rabbit sucks the juices and color out of vegetables. Of course that will absolutely not do. So Chester tries to drive a steak in...more
Robert Kent
What makes a classic middle grade book a classic? I know I’ve reviewed some here, such as Watership Down, James and the Giant Peach, The Giver, and Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing. But what makes those books classics and new books, such as Savvy by Ingrid Law, likely to be but not yet classics? I don’t really know, but I think time has something to do with it, which is a crappy deal for writers. Classics are books that have endured over a particular period of time and if you’re an author hopin...more
Shel
Howe, D., & Howe, J. (1979). Bunnicula: A rabbit-tale of mystery. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.


1416928170

98 Pages.


Appetizer: Howard the dog and Chester the cat are surprised when their family brings home an unexpected creature from the Dracula movie they had attended: A rabbit. The family quickly names their new member Bunnicula, and as the humans--eight-year-old Toby and ten-year-old Pete among them, favor the rabbit, Chester begins to suspect there's more to the small bunny than anyone ima...more
Artur Coelho
Não me perguntem onde encontro estas coisas. Mas assim que soube de um livro sobre coelhos vampíricos, tinha de o ir conhecer. A qualquer custo, mesmo se de enfrentar insalubres dentadas precisasse.

Bunnicula é um livro infantil e não é particularmente interessante. Contado sob o ponto de vista do cão de uma família, fala-nos das aventuras tenebrosas de um coelho especial cujo vampirismo se resume a sugar os sucos dos vegetais. O cão é laissez-faire, o gato alucina e os humanos, como é habitual...more
Michelle Isenhoff
I first met Chester and Harold as a kid and fell in love with them. If you haven’t encountered these two yet, let me introduce you. Chester is a highly educated cat with a vivid imagination. One of his delights is to listen to his owner, a college English professor, practice class lectures. He’s widely read, and especially favors Edgar Allen Poe. Harold isn’t quite as intellectual as Chester, but he does have a good deal more common sense. He’s also the one who wrote and delivered the first manu...more
Maeve
In the daytime he is dead asleep, and at night a ghost to the wind, drinking all the juice out of the vegetables in the house. Is it an animal or a frightening blood sucking vampire? The book is told by a old family dog( Harold) that is friends with the family cat (Chester), who now have to deal with the intrusion of a small fluffy animal with big ears. The new rabbit that was discovered at a Dracula movie by the two young boys of the family. While deciding upon the name Bunnicula, because he wa...more
Kathryn Cullen
I chose the book Bunnicula for my fantasy book. The book is about a dog named Harold and a cat named Chester. And of course a rabbit named
Bunnicula. The book begins when Harold and Chester owners come home from a movie. They came home with a rabbit. The owners named the rabbit Bunnicula. Chester began to notice that the black spot on Bunnicula looked like a cape. Chester stayed awake to see what bunnicula
did at night. Chester noticed that the rabbit wasn't
in his cage. He heard a noise in the kit...more
Drebbles
Howard the Dog and Chester the Cat enjoy living with their humans - Harold especially likes Toby who enjoys feasts that he shares with Harold. So when the family brings home a bunny they name Bunnicula, it isn't surprising that Harold and Chester are a bit jealous of the attention the family focuses on Bunnicula. But Chester's jealousy soon turns into the suspicion that Bunnicula is a vampire. He sets out to prove it - no matter what the cost.

Although "Bunnicula" is aimed at readers ages 8 - 12...more
Monster
Bunnicula is a classic scary story for kids. When the Monroe family finds a strange bunny in a theater showing Dracula, their cat, Chester, and dog, Harold, decide to investigate the aptly named Bunnicula. As if the bunny's strange markings and creepy red eyes weren't

enough, weird things start happening around him, like vegetables appearing completely drained of their juice. The lovably dim Harold and

too-smart-for-his-own-good Chester must figure out if Bunnicula really is a bunny-creature of th...more
Sarai
Amazon lists this as being for ages 9-12, but I was reading it recently as part of my personal growth project. :) Actually, listening to it in the car.

I really love the title because Bunnicula sounds cool. I like to put emphasis on the second syllable and kind of draw it out. Bun-NIH-cu-lahhhhh. In a kind of Dracula voice.

Harold, the family dog (and story narrator), and Chester, the family cat, live in relative peace and quiet until the arrival of a new bunny the family names Bunnicula - part bu...more
Sri
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Rebecca
okay This immensely popular children's story is told from the point of view of a dog named Harold. It all starts when Harold's human family, the Monroes, goes to see the movie Dracula, and young Toby accidentally sits on a baby rabbit wrapped in a bundle on his seat. How could the family help but take the rabbit home and name it Bunnicula? Chester, the literate, sensitive, and keenly observant family cat, soon decides there is something weird about this rabbit. Pointy fangs, the appearance of a...more
Jennifer
Our story opens on a dark and stormy night as the Monroes (names changed to protect the innocent) return from a showing of Dracula with a small bundle that is revealed to be a bunny. Soon Chester the cat is convinced that the newly named Bunnicula isn’t just any bunny – but something far more sinister. The black markings that look like a cape? The vegetables that turn white with no explanation? The teeny tiny fangs where a rabbit’s buck teeth should be? Could Bunnicula actually be a vampire rabb...more
Jodi
May 31, 2009 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Third Graders - Fifth Graders
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Timothy
I recently read of the premise of the Bunnicula books by James Howe (with his late wife, Deborah, on the first one in the series, which is here reviewed) on a web site, and decided to read the first one. Sometimes, after reading larger tomes with more mature content in terms of philosophy, religion, fantasy, and the like, a small “little kid” read is actually just what I need. This first one, Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery was a fun book with a very interesting premise.

One day, a family (ca...more
Megan Carr
Bunnicula is a funny story about a family who brings home a new pet much to the chagrin of the current dog and cat. Chester and Harold are used to getting all of the attention in the Monroe family, but as soon as the veggie sucking rabbit appears, the jealousy mounts! It seems that the dog and cat are creating this history for Bunnicula without really knowing the animal. They are judging the animal out of fear that they are not the family favorites anymore. Bunnicula has great vocabulary used by...more
Cherie
A spunky little tale of a vampire rabbit, as told by Harold, the Monroe family dog who lives with him. Yes, you heard me correctly, this particular rabbit is also a vampire! He sleeps all day (well, so do my own rabbits! LOL), and when he wakes at night he sneaks out of his cage and drains the juice from all the vegetables in the house.

Bunnicula, thus named because he was found in a movie theater during a showing of Dracula, has already managed to endear himself to the whole family—Mom and Dad...more
Gail
Introduced this book to my 4th grade class. Started out with overhead transparencies of Bela Lugosi as Dracula, and discussed common - held beliefs about vampires. After having the students complete a Vampire Worksheet, we dove into chapter 1, pausing for exciting vocabulary words.
A fun, fun read. Great for those kids who have a dry sense of humor. They'll appreciate the jokes. The rest enjoy reading about pets that are smarter than (or, at least as smart as)their humans.
Karly
I had completely forgotten about reading this book as a child until a conversation with my best friend likening someone to a bunny with red eyes and fangs. Whereupon she said, wait, I'm pretty sure that's actually a book isn't it? She looked it up and yes, yes it was.

BUNNICULA is one of those children's books that I love! Literary references and large vocabulary words interwoven into an adorable little story. Although I had forgotten about this book, not hard to do when you book carnivore like...more
Bodhi K.
12/14 I recently read Deborah Howe's Bunnicula. The book is about a smart cat, an average dog, and a weird bunny. The dog and cats' family, the Monroe's, went to a movie theater and watched a dracula movie. When Howie, one of the boys in family, sat down he felt something on top of his chair and told his mom, Ann Monroe, about something on his chair. When they looked they found a bunny and brought it home. They named the bunny Bunnicula because thay found him in a dracula movie. Get it? Bunny an...more
Maryse
I read this when I was in grade 3 and had since had the urge to steal from the my school library. Though the title is named after Bunnicula, it's Harold (the dog) and Chester (the cat) that I loved most. Chester's paranoia about the poor rabbit fed by his insatiable appetite for books is quite unforgettable. I'm so glad they started selling copies of these again here. At least I won't have to result to stealing it to read it again.
Patrick
We gave this to Adam for Christmas because I loved it as a kid and we already have #2 lying around. I am reading this out loud to the kids.

It's fun, but definitely dated. I remember a lot of the 80's junior fiction books I read had this professorial 3rd person tone. In this book, it's the dog writing the story in a professorial 1st person tone. So you get phrases and sentences like "...the family with whom I reside." Also sharing our home is a cat named Chester, whom I am pleased to call my fri...more
Marcie
I came across this book while I was actually looking for another book at my local bookstore. I picked it up because the title Bunnicula made me smile. I read the blurb on the back to my kids and they immediately agreed we need to read this book. Bunnicula was first published in 1979 but I was not familiar with it. This book was a total win in all areas. The book is told from Harold, the family dog's, perspective. Harold is a friendly, well behaved, sensible pet. He's taken aback when his family...more
Elizabeth
Much like the barnyard of characters in Charlotte's Web, the household pets that take lead in Bunnicula are so well personified and enjoyable. Howe clearly draws and and references animal behaviors to flesh out the human-like characterization of Malcolm, the dog, and Chester, the cat. My favorite scene was the night that Malcolm and Chester plan to spy on Bunnicula. As they set up their post, Malcolm relays Chester's lengthy routine for getting comfortable on the couch. Anyone who has a cat coul...more
Gale
CAPE-AND-FANGS CAPER

This cute animal fantasy is a quick and easy read, filled with plenty of dialogue and amusing family dynamics. Harold, the kind-hearted canine narrator, faithfuly relates the bizarre events following the introduction of a black and white rabbit into a family of two pre-teen boys. Book-educated Chester, the wise cat, however, is immediately suspicious of the new pet, whose name tag was written in a Carpathian dialect-uh-oh! Easy-going Harold tries to befriend the the little f...more
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Reminds me of when I was a kid 2 15 Feb 17, 2013 10:46am  
Bunnicula (Bunnicula, #1)
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (Bunnicula, #1)
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (Bunnicula, #1)
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (Bunnicula, #1)
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (Bunnicula, #1)

Deborah Howe with her husband James Howe was the author of the classic children's tale Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. After her death, the Bunnicula series was continued by James.
More about Deborah Howe...
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery Teddy Bear's Scrapbook The Bunnicula Collection: Books 1-3: #1: Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery; #2: Howliday Inn; #3: The Celery Stalks at Midnight Path to Truth (Star Wars: Jedi Quest, #0) Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery

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“So, this is a rabbit, I thought. He sort of looks like Chester, only he's got longer ears and a shorter tail. And a motor in his nose.” 11 people liked it
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