Max's Bunny Business

Max and Ruby

by Rosemary Wells

A tale of funny bunny business for Rosemary Wells's bestselling Max and Ruby!

Max's sister Ruby and her best friend Louise are in business—they have big plans for the profits from their lemonade stand, and they definitely don't want Max to help or share. But trust Max to have plans of his own. He just might show Ruby that he has a better way to run a bunny business.
Everyone's favorite bunnies, Max and Ruby, appear in a popular television series on Nickelodeon.   "The swiftly moving story, enthusiastic characters and enticing candy are rendered in broad, colorful strokes that cannot fail to please the target audience."— Publishers Weekly

"Fans of this rabbit duo will be happy."— School Library Journal

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Money, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Rosemary Wells is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She often uses animal characters to address real human issues. Some of her most well-known characters are Max & Ruby and Timothy from Timothy Goes To School (both were later adapted into Canadian-animated preschool television series, the former’s airing on Nickelodeon (part of the Nick Jr. block) and the latter’s as part of PBS Kids on PBS).

Reviews

[Jennifer]

I thought I loved Rosemary Wells but all 3 of her books that I've read this morning are just not good. Sigh. This one starts out with a great message: Ruby & her friend Louise want to flashing light rings so they find out how much they cost and open a lemonade stand, knowing exactly how many cups they'll have to sell to make enough money to reach their goal. This is great! They're not begging mom and dad for money, they are being proactive and using their math skills! Sadly, when Max, a typical little brother, wants to join them but makes a little kid mistake, Grandma swoops in, despite Ruby's hard work, and favors Max over Ruby and sabotages her goals. For the life of me I can't figure out Well's objective here.

[Megan]

I was a little annoyed that Ruby and her friend Louise worked so hard on their lemonade stand only to have their dreams of obtaining a flashing ring be shattered when Grandma swooped in and bought all of Max's stale old Halloween candy then took him to the store to buy him the last flashing ring... while Ruby and Louise were still hard at work selling lemonade. I guess it is a reminder of that important lesson that rings true for most people: life is not fair.

[Meredith]

Ruby and Louise open a lemonade stand, so they can buy themed merchandise. Max wants to help but inadvertently causes trouble instead. When Ruby shoos him off, he decides to open a competing stand and sell leftover Halloween candy.

I thought it was silly, but my preschooler really enjoys it.

[Isabelle]

There's a pretty funny typo—or glitch, rather—in the copy for this book here on Goodreads. It says "Everyone?s favorite bunnies", where the apostrophe is replaced with a question mark. "Everyone's?" seems like a pretty great modifier, as I don't think that *everyone* is a fan of little Max and his big sister Ruby.

I'm no stranger to the series—when I went to the library to find my pair, I had found my nonfiction and was headed for "Bunny Money", which is the arguable pinnacle of the Max and Ruby franchise—but this was the first I had heard of this particular entry in the series. Max and Ruby both want to purchase a flashing light ring, but have no money to buy them with, so they set out in different business adventures to purchase them; namely, a lemonade stand. In typical fashion, Max chooses a unique, semi-destructive way outside of the "proper" avenues that eventually earns him what they were seeking. As a big sister myself, I resent the way that things always resolve for Max—and that he never has to clean up his mess—as it paints Ruby as a nag and a stickler.

In terms of pairing, I thought this would be a great companion to my non-fiction book as it explores money in a tangible way, as it's tied to a plot. Money is often hard to conceptualize for young children, and I think Max and Ruby's quest to exchange goods (lemonade, or Halloween candy, in Max's eventual case) for money, to exchange that money back for a different good (light-up sparkle ring) provides a real, concrete example for them to follow. This is also a familiar series for many young children, which could also provide a strong anchor for some of the more real-world concepts introduced by the non-fiction choice.

[Marissa Ellis]

This book shows two bunnies starting a business. Would be fun to relate to a unit on money or business.

Guided Reading: D
Lexile: AD30

[Sarah]

Louise and Ruby are selling lemonade to buy a ring that they want. Max starts selling candy too. Louise and Ruby find that the ring is already sold out. I wonder by who?

[Tasha]

You can't ever go far wrong with Rosemary Wells! Ruby and her best friend Louise must raise enough money to purchase Fire Angel flashing rings. They have to make $2.00. They decide to sell lemonade at 10 cents a cup. Of course, Max wants to help too. But Ruby and Louise don't want his help, so he decides to open a stand of his own. He finds his old Halloween candy, displays it on the sidewalk, makes a big sign, and opens for business. Ruby and Louise have more business than they can handle, and all Max needs his Grandma's business to be a success.

Wells once again brings her classic Max and Ruby style and humor to a picture book. Max is the classic younger brother who is pesky, messy and very bright. While Ruby is a wonderful older sister with plenty of patience but a need to do her own thing. Wells' art is her own unique style, less finished than the TV show and even more charming.

This story works really well and will be a great read aloud for preschoolers and children in kindergarten. It nicely combines math and finance with story.

[Amy]

My nephew picked this one off the library shelf today, and I don't think he could have found any more delight in this book if Max, Ruby, and Louise had been costumed as superheroes! He really identified with poor Max being excluded by his older sister, he identified with Max being told to do things that he didn't want to do, and he admired Max's grit. He *loved* how Max came out ahead at the end of this story, and upon our second reading I noticed him stealing "hey, are you getting this?" glances over at his sister during the applicable parts of the story. I couldn't help but smile at his gleeful giggles as Max got one up on Ruby at the end of the book. Score one for the little brothers!

[T.]

-- re. moneymaking projects;
-- re. brothers & sisters;

Ruby and her friend Louise set up a lemonade stand to earn money to buy matching rings, but Max foils their plan.

Bunny business? Funny business! Max?s sister, Ruby, and her best friend, Louise, are in business. They have big plans for the profits from their lemonade stand, and they definitely don?t want Max to help or share. But trust Max to have plans of his own. He just might show Ruby that he has a better way to run a bunny business. Everyone?s favorite bunnies, Max and Ruby, appear in a popular television series on Nickelodeon.

[Alicia]

I read this in storytime for Money Smart Week. I love Max and Ruby, but they don't make the best storytime books and the kids kind of lost interest. They did love the part when Max pours the lemonade on the sidewalk. And when I asked who bought the last ring, one girl answered, "ME!" Adorable - and the other kids followed suit. So we all pretended to be wearing flashing rings and that was fun.

[Rosa Cline]

In this Max and Ruby book Ruby and Louise make a lemonade stand to raise money for some rings they want to buy. They tell Max he's to little to help. So Max finds some old candy and Grandma comes and buys the candy and takes him to the toy store so he can spend his dollar.

[Amy]

Max usually gets shafted and bossed around by Ruby in this series but this time, Grandma and Max are the winners! I was laughing so hard when I was processing this book!

[Susan]

The kids at storytime enjoyed this amusing story, and my five-year-old liked it a lot too!

[Christy]

We love Rosemary Wells but this book did not hold Reagan's (age 2)attention as much as her other books.

[Aspasia]

When Ruby won't let Max help with her lemonade stand, Max takes matters into his own hands.

[Kendra]

Max strikes again! While Ruby and Louise try to sell lemonade to make enough money to buy special rings, Max opens his own business and beats them to the punch.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge]

Max got the shiny ring. B.W.

[Gray]

We are huge fans of Max and his silliness.

[Kathleen McKim]

I'm always drawn to the illustrations, but I never really like the stories. I just don't connect, but I'm sure there are thousands of fans who disagree!

[Christina]

Not too bad. A great conversation starter to talk about if you want something you can work to earn it rather than just asking someone for it.

[Courtney Stout]

This was really cute. I want to read the other books in this "Max" series from this author.

[Kari]

Not my favorite of the Max and Ruby stories, but the kids always love to read what they are up to.

[Rachel Rouleau]

Why is Grandma always on Max's side? Poor Ruby.

[Brian]

Max may or may not be selling drugs on the side. And grandma is cool with it.