A Splash of Magic

Magic Bunny #3

by Sue Bentley

Arrow is a magic bunny who uses his spells wherever they are needed most. Can Arrow turn Charlotte's trip to the shore into one she'll never forget?

Genres: Fantasy, Chapter Books, Animals, 1st Grade, Childrens, Magic, Rabbits

123 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

Sue was born in Northampton where she still lives. For many years she worked for Northamptonshire libraries and remains a passionate supporter of Public Libraries. Sue loves everything about books, the feel of them, their smell. the way they look. And has a habit of matching a bookmark to the cover of each book she's reading. The process of reading, the feel of the book, carrying it around in her shoulder bag, sitting in favourite cafes reading all make for a complete sensory experience.
Browsing bookshops old and new, talking all things bookish with other book lovers, spending time with other writers and meeting with fans of her own books at author events are her favourite things. That and eating good quality dark chocolate, while writing.

Reviews

[Natverse · Rating 3 out of 5]

That's right, I am finally finishing the books of this series, that I missed, before I move onto Magic Kitten.

Let's get to it... Charlotte, honey, never tell a strange magic bunny your name. IT COULD HAVE BEEN A POWER-HUNGRY EVIL BUNNY.

Secondly, Mel is an animal-neglecting phony. Yeah, I am channelling my inner Holden Caulfield.

Thirdly, every good bunny owner knows rabbits will not hop into your handbag willingly no matter how much you try to look like Paris Hilton or how many treats you pack in there. Bunnies don't trust hoomins for shit. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE FALSITIES OF THIS MAGIC BUNNY. I'm starting to think Arrow started off as a Magic Puppy. I should have read that series first.

Finally, Charlotte's mum clearly has some sort of cancer and her friend Mel is completely clueless until she is told. Charlotte resorts to support in an invisible magic bunny that may or may not actually exist but appears to children having problems. A magic bunny that also claims to be hiding from some evil bunnies that have unspecified powers. What will these evil bunnies do if they get their sneaky paws on a hoomin that has been in contact with Arrow?

I am starting to suspect my own rabbit of evil intentions. Look at the glint in his eyes:



He's going to find himself on the streets if he tries anything.

[Althea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The evil bunnies made a total of ZERO appearances. I am hugely disappointed.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's add another review to the pile that calls out this so-called children's series for its both patent and latent racist narrative, shall we? It's not that I didn't enjoy the story outside of its problematic commentary on society; I just didn't appreciate that this book is marketed as a book for kids. It's not for kids. So, 1 star.

The book starts with a prologue in which a large rabbit of advanced age named Strike warns our hero bunny, Arrow, a pure-bred, magical white bunny, to "watch out for [the darkies]." The dark fur rabbits live in squalor, you see. And, even though the whites want to relocate the darks to the whites' territory to "save" them, the dark rabbits want to retain their property rights and improve their lot on their own terms. To do this, the dark rabbits require the whites to lend them a magical object. The whites, however, think that lifting up the dark rabbits will disenfranchise themselves (where have I heard that before?) and refuse them temporary use of this object. With the key (which is actually a key) to the dark bunnies' survival around his neck, Arrow is spirited away to the human dimension.

But the story really begins with Charlotte, a self-conscious and selfish young girl afraid of change, who is visiting her friend, Mel. Mel - who moved away from Charlotte's town earlier and now lives in a small, coastal village - keeps bunnies, but not very well. Arrow magically appears only to Charlotte, transformed into a beautiful caramel and white mix breed. (Of course, Arrow shows his true form for Charlotte so that she'll trust him.) Anyway, Arrow retains 100% of his white privilege despite his mixed heritage form, all the while invisible to the rest of society as if he were actually a dark/mixed bunny. Charlotte nonetheless smuggles her new disguised friend into her attic as if it were a brown bunny. She even suggests to Arrow that he allow her to put him in a cage for the full incarceration experience, but Arrow refuses. He is, after all, white.

Charlotte, Mel, and Mel's friends go outside to play tennis. Charlotte notes how the village doesn't live up to her standards, only apologizing for such an obvious faux pas after she's caught. It turns out, as a white girl, she's also a poor tennis player. Charlotte feeds Arrow some lettuce and tomato slices. Some other things happen that are equally irrelevant to the story. Anyway, before long, Mel's white trash dad throws some burnt sausages into his yard. (jk, but which part of that sentence am I jk about?) Then, by some miracle of leporine racism, the sausages are suddenly just fine and the family can enjoy its supper.

Later, Charlotte ventures the beach with the other girls only to find that it's a pebble beach. Like, wtf, how can she build a sandcastle with pebbles, hello? Mel tells Charlotte basically to f off: a moment for which I had been longing since Charlotte was introduced in chapter 1. Mel's friend, Jamelia, who was sadly white-washed by the illustrator, pulls out a knife and "suggests" that Charlotte fly her kite. She "agrees," but the wind carries the kite into the water. Living dangerously, I suppose, the rabbit bounces into the waves after it. Charlotte braves the rigor of the whitecaps to save her friend, but, magically, she doesn't get wet.

Let me pause here to note that this is probably the most interesting, effective, and, frankly, impressive metaphor that the author offers. It is now clear to the reader that Charlotte has not yet physically matured. I'm not sure, however, what this information has to do with the rest of the story. Does her ability to witness Arrow derive from some sort of divine innocence, perhaps? We may never know. It's unlikely to be explained in a future volume, but if it is you bet I'll inform you.

Anyway, Mel gets upset because she wasn't the center of attention for the last five minutes, resulting in a tiff between Mel and Charlotte. Mel is subsequently imprisoned for the evening by her mother. Though the story is told from a somewhat limited point of view, it's pretty clear that she probably deserved such treatment.

The next day, the cast attends society by going to a carnival and enjoying the rides and games. The bunny gets scared of some plastic and paint and disappears. We've all been there. Afterward, Charlotte and Mel overcome their previous differences and get stoned back in the attic. That is, they play with some stones. My bad.

But, alas: Before too long Arrow the Bunny's pure-blood hometown, Moonglow Meadow, needs its crystal key, so Arrow must leave to feed his warren with magical sustenance. At the moment of his departure, Arrow inspires Charlotte always to follow her dreams - a great message for children. Given Arrow's circumstance, however, this parting message pretty clearly reads like "always follow your dreams so long as those dreams involve the erasure of the lesser races," which is a less desirable message for children, what with the holocaust and all. But was this book, which was published in 2010, at this moment prophesying the future Trump administration? Was this a warning that we overlooked because our attention was focused instead on Benghazi emails?

Charlotte's mother arrives at the end of the story (she's been ill by the way) with a captive, mixed-breed bunny whom Charlotte names after Orlando, Florida's professional basketball team: an interesting choice and a real cliffhanger ending.

The phrase 'chest of drawers' appears twice in this book: once in chapter 1 and again in chapter 3.
Do what you will with that information.

(Yes, I originally added this review under book 2 of the series. This is my correction. And I have yet to read book 2, so I guess who's the stupid one now? [Me, but will I be even stupider after reading book 2? Probably.])

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other than unburning a plate of sausages, Arrow really sat this one out, providing nearly no magical assistance to the protagonists' problems. Why are you even here... other than to spread more propaganda about the dark bunnies to unsuspecting denizens of the mundane world like a furry little rainbow-eyed Goebbels.

That said, I honestly thought Mel and Charlotte's little estranged friend drama was an authentic and honest treatment of the subject. The sick mother was an unnecessary touch. This is probably the best one of the series, which really makes you wonder whether the bunny angle is necessary at all. But... I suppose I wouldn't have read this series in the first place if it weren't ridiculously covered in furry animals, sparkles, and rainbows. So I get it.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you just need a magic bunny to make everything all better. This was an adorable story with cute illustrations perfect for young readers to read on their own, or stressed out 40-somethings with an obsession for cute & magical bunnies.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love bunny books so I'm reading the whole series!

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

We bought this book from a Scholastic order form because of the cover, which is practically irresistible in its sparkly-cuteness to my bunny-loving children (and to me, apparently). I didn't realize it's the third in a series and the magic rabbit is pretty superfluous to the plot, which turns out to be a good thing. The main plot is pretty mundane kid stuff about change and being a good friend; it's not particularly well-done but neither is it terrible. It's OK, I guess, and there is a realistic-enough happy ending so I wasn't mad when I finished it.

The framing plot is the magic rabbits and I don't know if the text has been edited or what, but there are no "dark bunnies" mentioned in our Scholastic edition, only "gully rabbits." Once I realized this was the third in the series, I read reviews for the other books and--yikes. We will not be buying them. I agree with the other reviewers that this looming bunny war of white rabbits vs dark rabbits makes no sense whatsoever except as some kind of thoughtless (unintentional?) racial allegory. Because the magic makes NO SENSE in either world--it's wildly inconsistent and doesn't hold up to half a second's thought. If the magic is limited and must be conserved, why does Arrow use it for random showy tricks (and not for more useful things, but I digress)? Or, if the magic is not limited, why can't he use it to make ALL the magic bunny lands be lush utopias? I'm on board for magic but not nonsense.

There are so many fantastic children's books out now; we won't be wasting any more time on this series, no matter how adorable the covers are.

[A_quiet_fangirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual quote from the book: “It was nice having three girlfriends instead of just one.”
It sounds so weird out of context, lol. Anyway, this is NOT a book I would read nowadays, but my sister bought it along with a Magic Kitten book because of the cover. Which, I would like to add, kinda terrified me. The bunny gives you a menacing look and stares into your soul....
This book was “meh,” overall. I didn’t really like the main character, even if she was pretty relatable. Like “oh, a bunny talked to me. AND it told me I could tell anyone, and only I can see it..... WELP THATS NORMAL LETS GO ON WITH LIFE!” In her position, I would be questioning my sanity. What if it were all a dreeeeeeaaaaaammmmmm? So that was one star off.
The other problem I had was that her mom solved her problem for her. The theme of the story was that you don’t have to go through anything alone, but Charlotte (the main character) only realizes this after her mom talks to her friend about it FOR her. I would’ve preferred it a lot more if Mel, Charlotte’s friend, had overheard one of Charlotte’s venting to Arrow (the rabbit who I think is secretly evil).
I had some other minor issues with the book, but YOU can find what makes you most uncomfortable! YEAH! It was a fun read, though.

[Evelyn Sessions · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series by Sue Bentley is so pathetic. She just keeps reselling the exact same book, just with different characters each time!

Charlotte, the protagonist, agrees to help out a talking rabbit for no reason whatsoever. Wow, great thinking! It’s obnoxious how the rabbit helps the girl with her stupid little friend group issues. And more! The dad burns breakfast sausages, but the bunny fixes them. The dad calls out the mom to tell her the sausages are burnt, and the mom comes out and says they look fine. The dad has no clue about the magical bunny, and decides to accept that the sausages just randomly became perfect without explanation. How realistic is that!?

Also, all of the girls are so snotty and selfish. Charlotte whispers mean remarks about where her “friend” Mel shops, and only apologizes upon being confronted. And none of the girls can bear not being the center of attention, so they’re almost competing over who is the coolest friend. That’s not kid-friendly, I’m sorry, but this series never worked out for me. It was too babyish when I was six, much less twelve, like I am now.

[Jazzmyn Ferguson]

in this book a girl named charlotte demman she dad is go on the trip and she i stay ith her brother at their grandpranets hosue and when she is out side she meet a a little bunny that has special pwer she magic. the bunny named is arrow the arrow is trying to help charlotte out.

one day charlotte take arrow she her frineds to the cavnes at the park the have have lot of fun and win prixes and th next day they have a sleepover at her grnadparnets hose the brother is be annoying to she and her firndes.

[Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book is mainly for children, I currently reread it and I honestly think its suited for teens aswell

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Teenagers can find the book to be relatable to themselves, considering the main character facing a conflict between her long-time best friend and her being more closer to her newer friends, we as the reader can see the main character going through being left out, only having the bunny to comfort her. which can be in comparison to real life situations with kids and teens alike.

[Adrienne Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had such a good plot, and I liked how the author addresses the main character’s mother recovering from cancer (I’m assuming it’s cancer, since she talks about the mother being super sick and having to go through treatments to get better).

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

very nice READ BEFORE BUYING

It’s a very nice book I love it but you know the other books that are related have the same beginning of when the magical animal comes so can you change that please?

[Jada Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like all the magic bunny books are the same but different characters🤔but I still loved it😁

[dominika ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

spk

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading magic animals books! Charlotte’s old friend, Mal has new friends but Charlotte didn’t like it. Things like these happened to me before, and I will like an animal to help me!

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 years old daughter fell in love with these magic bunny book's! She already loved the magic kitten book's but I wasn't sure if she would like the bunnies since she thought the puppies & ponies series where just ok. She said that this is one of her new faves! She loves Arrow just as much as she loves Flame! Santa brought her the first bunny book and the Easter bunny brought her this one as well as the next few which she can't wait to read! Although I read these to her, I always let her choose the star raiting so it's from a kid! I would be more inclined to give it 3-4 stars.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly bunny-licous. This book warmed me in all of its bunny glory. Most books about animals are non-fiction...which leads kids into the facts of the world. I love non-fiction as an amazing form but there was something about opening a magical bunny book that made the appeal so appetizing and the treat so tasty. Sue Bentley brought to life a world of relatable characters and made infinite connections to everyone that opened the pages of the magical read.

[Ami E. Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute!

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 3 out of 5]

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