Kissing Coyotes

by Marcia K. Vaughan, Kenneth J. Spengler (Illustrations)

A conniving Jack Rabbit makes good on a dare

Genres: Animals, Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Humor

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2002

About the author

Marcia Vaughan became a librarian in 1975 so that she could inspire children to read. After a short while, she began writing her own books. Her first two stories were never published but her third, ‘Wombat Stew’, illustrated by Pamela Lofts, was published in 1984. It might now be considered a classic of Australian children’s literature.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood]

Despite the title, Our Protagonist is a jack rabbit who can't stop lying. When he's dared to prove that he could kiss all the coyotes in the area, he can't figure out how to back out, so he has to do it ... somehow.

The tale reads like a Native American legend about a Trickster like Raven, Coyote or Rabbit. It does have some modern Western touches, such as cowboy slang and the sudden appearance of a herd of longhorns.

Unfortunately, the book ends on a cliffhanger. I know the ending was meant to be funny, but by that time, it was just annoying.

The art was much better than the text, being so vividly colored with heavy black outlines that I can only describe it as hallucinogenic. If I hadn't seen that this was first published in 2002, I could've sworn it came out in 1967. I could see Hunter S. Thompson getting lost in this. Or perhaps Terry Gilliam.

[Brooke Klamerus]

This book is about a jackrabbit who brags about all of the cool things he can do and gets scared when his friends dare him to do them. He ends up going on a journey where he does all these crazy things he was bragging about and he's very tired. This book is very cute and fun to read because there's a lot of fun pictures and onomatopoeia.

[Haaley]

I really like this book. It was fun.

[Shelli]

Typically I'm not a fan of the round the campfire-feel western tales like this one. However, I liked Kissing Coyotes, it was a fun book to share and allowed me to practice several silly voice change ups between the various characters. Kids will enjoy hearing Jack Rabbit's ridiculous bragging and will probably all wonder why he doesn't learn his lesson of wrongful boasting at the end of the story; some people and animals just never learn.

[Ariell]

I really didn't like the moral of the story, it seemed like it was okay to tell tall tale and you would be able to get away with them. It was like never cry wolf with an ending where he gets away with it, despite the wolf.

[Jen]

A fun childrens book to read.

[Kim]

This is another darling book that all my children love to read. It is a lot like reading Moosetache and Skippy Jon Jones.

[Mary Ann]

Jack Rabbit has a big mouth and his constant bragging gets him into trouble and it finally comes that he has to prove his claims.

[Paula]

Jackrabbit brags to the other animals that he is so brave that he can do all kinds of things, including kiss a coyote.

[Angela]

Love Love Love it! Excitement and adventure with great illustration.

[Mary Lewis]

a fun book about tall tales. the pictures are vibrant and engaging for kids. my son really enjoyed reading this book.

[Alice]

3.25 Stars The pictures are great. Lots of details and a great southwestern feel! The story is a cute fable, a "if you play with fire you might get burned" Fun one!

[Karen]

This book was fun to read, and had some really great illustrations, but I'm not sure I actually liked the story. Jackrabbit was kind of a jack---.