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P.J. Funnybunny #2
The Very Bad Bunny
Because he's constantly spilling or breaking things, P.J. Funnybunny's family thinks he's the worst bunny ever--until his cousin Binky comes to visit and shows them what naughty really means
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
About the author
Marilyn Sadler
76 books48 followersWith a degree in fine arts, Marilyn Sadler assumed she would be an illustrator. But when early in her career she was presented with an opportunity to write, she seized it and quickly discovered that she had found her true love. No sad, sappy stories for her, however. She likes to make herself laugh, and with that her characters usually end up looking pretty silly for one reason or another.
Her first children’s book featured a fastidious little English boy named Alistair Grittle and was originally created for the English publisher, Hamish Hamilton, as well as for Simon & Schuster in the United States. Having created a boy with such perfect behavior, she then turned her attention to a not so perfectly behaved little boy. His name was P.J. Funnybunny, and he has existed in a series of books for Random House, including the highly prestigious Dr. Seuss Cat In the Hat series.
Marilyn’s television credits include two PBS Reading Rainbow programs featuring Alistair, an Alistair program for the BBC, three ABC Weekend Specials featuring P.J. Funnybunny, and a show based on her children’s book, "Elizabeth and Larry", for Showtime’s Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.
Between 1999 and 2004, The Disney Channel produced three Original Movies based on her book, "Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century". Each of Disney’s Zenon movies had exceptionally high ratings, with Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century and Zenon the Zequel among the highest rated shows in the history of The Disney Channel.
In 2004, Playhouse Disney began production on Marilyn and Roger Bollen's animated series, Handy Manny. Handy Manny premiered September 16, 2006, as the highest rated Playhouse Disney series premiere of all time. In 2009, Marilyn was nominated for an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of Handy Manny.
Her first children’s book featured a fastidious little English boy named Alistair Grittle and was originally created for the English publisher, Hamish Hamilton, as well as for Simon & Schuster in the United States. Having created a boy with such perfect behavior, she then turned her attention to a not so perfectly behaved little boy. His name was P.J. Funnybunny, and he has existed in a series of books for Random House, including the highly prestigious Dr. Seuss Cat In the Hat series.
Marilyn’s television credits include two PBS Reading Rainbow programs featuring Alistair, an Alistair program for the BBC, three ABC Weekend Specials featuring P.J. Funnybunny, and a show based on her children’s book, "Elizabeth and Larry", for Showtime’s Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.
Between 1999 and 2004, The Disney Channel produced three Original Movies based on her book, "Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century". Each of Disney’s Zenon movies had exceptionally high ratings, with Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century and Zenon the Zequel among the highest rated shows in the history of The Disney Channel.
In 2004, Playhouse Disney began production on Marilyn and Roger Bollen's animated series, Handy Manny. Handy Manny premiered September 16, 2006, as the highest rated Playhouse Disney series premiere of all time. In 2009, Marilyn was nominated for an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of Handy Manny.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 3, 2019
Man, it’s been awhile since I last read a “P.J. Funnybunny” book, despite growing up with the series. I think the last “P.J. Funnybunny” book I read was “It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny,” which was many years ago. So, I finally picked up another “P.J. Funnybunny” book called “The Very Bad Bunny” by Marilyn Sadler, along with artwork by Roger Bollen and I had a blast reading this book!
P.J. Funnybunny did not mean to be a bad bunny. He would do things like break the vase while playing in the house, spill syrup on the floor, cut up the newspaper before his father had a chance to read it and invite his friends over without asking his mother. Because of these things, P.J.’s parents and siblings all think that he is a bad bunny. One day however, P.J.’s little cousin Binky comes in for a visit and he and P.J. started playing with each other. But unfortunately, Binky turned out to be a bad bunny who was even worse than P.J. as he would do things like throw P.J.’s favorite ball into the lake, letting go of P.J.’s balloon and painting bunnies all over the walls in the house.
Now P.J and his family are going to see just how bad a bunny can be!
Wow! I was really having fun with this book! Marilyn Sadler did a fantastic job at writing this book as it was full of good humor! I enjoyed seeing the scenes where P.J. has to deal with Binky’s constant mischief and how he acted more mature in comparison. I found it pretty amusing that P.J.’s family thought that P.J. was the bad bunny, until they met Binky and he turned out to be much worse than P.J. himself! I also loved Roger Bollen’s artwork as it is humorous to look at, especially the images of P.J. and his family having to deal with Binky’s mischief throughout the book! I also enjoyed seeing how big the bunnies’ ears were in this book as they are drawn as taking over most of the space in the pages and seem to be extremely thick in size.
Parents should know that the message of this book might be a tad bit too confusing for some children. The way that I am looking at this story is that P.J. has done some bad things, but he never meant to do any of those things on purpose. He seems genuinely sorry for his actions and only acted out badly when he was punished. Meanwhile, Binky does a lot of bad things in this book, but he is never sorry about the things that he has done and he continues to misbehave towards the Funnybunny family throughout the book. So, basically the book is trying to say that there is a difference between a child doing bad things by accident versus doing bad things on purpose? I am not sure what the book is trying to save about children misbehaving here. If you know what this book is trying to say about badly behaving children, then please feel free to tell me down below.
Overall, “The Very Bad Bunny” is a fun and cute little book about tackling the subject of children behaving badly and I would definitely recommend this book to fans of the “P.J. Funnybunny” series! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the message in this book might confuse some children.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
P.J. Funnybunny did not mean to be a bad bunny. He would do things like break the vase while playing in the house, spill syrup on the floor, cut up the newspaper before his father had a chance to read it and invite his friends over without asking his mother. Because of these things, P.J.’s parents and siblings all think that he is a bad bunny. One day however, P.J.’s little cousin Binky comes in for a visit and he and P.J. started playing with each other. But unfortunately, Binky turned out to be a bad bunny who was even worse than P.J. as he would do things like throw P.J.’s favorite ball into the lake, letting go of P.J.’s balloon and painting bunnies all over the walls in the house.
Now P.J and his family are going to see just how bad a bunny can be!
Wow! I was really having fun with this book! Marilyn Sadler did a fantastic job at writing this book as it was full of good humor! I enjoyed seeing the scenes where P.J. has to deal with Binky’s constant mischief and how he acted more mature in comparison. I found it pretty amusing that P.J.’s family thought that P.J. was the bad bunny, until they met Binky and he turned out to be much worse than P.J. himself! I also loved Roger Bollen’s artwork as it is humorous to look at, especially the images of P.J. and his family having to deal with Binky’s mischief throughout the book! I also enjoyed seeing how big the bunnies’ ears were in this book as they are drawn as taking over most of the space in the pages and seem to be extremely thick in size.
Parents should know that the message of this book might be a tad bit too confusing for some children. The way that I am looking at this story is that P.J. has done some bad things, but he never meant to do any of those things on purpose. He seems genuinely sorry for his actions and only acted out badly when he was punished. Meanwhile, Binky does a lot of bad things in this book, but he is never sorry about the things that he has done and he continues to misbehave towards the Funnybunny family throughout the book. So, basically the book is trying to say that there is a difference between a child doing bad things by accident versus doing bad things on purpose? I am not sure what the book is trying to save about children misbehaving here. If you know what this book is trying to say about badly behaving children, then please feel free to tell me down below.
Overall, “The Very Bad Bunny” is a fun and cute little book about tackling the subject of children behaving badly and I would definitely recommend this book to fans of the “P.J. Funnybunny” series! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the message in this book might confuse some children.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
July 10, 2008
The art in this bunny book is priceless...they'll haunt your conceptual imagery references for a long time to come in the same way as the bunnies in Wallace and Grommit's feature length film. It's also a bit of a rarity in that it's a children's book for the very young that isn't afraid to make the parents out to be villains of a sort: there's a lot in it for children to relate to, especially those that are learning quickly that not everything in life will be fair or nice--though it does so in such a humorous and carefree way that it is in no way preachy.
January 19, 2021
5 stars.
Ohh man this one was even funnier than the first. I thought his family was being a bit too hard on PJ but by the end of the book, I'm glad that they all realised he wasn't that bad really.
The only issue that I have now, having read this as an adult, is that it teaches readers, that when you do something bad, it makes you a bad person. Where as, it just means that what you did was bad, but it doesn't make you bad, which is different. Hopefully that makes sense.
Ohh man this one was even funnier than the first. I thought his family was being a bit too hard on PJ but by the end of the book, I'm glad that they all realised he wasn't that bad really.
The only issue that I have now, having read this as an adult, is that it teaches readers, that when you do something bad, it makes you a bad person. Where as, it just means that what you did was bad, but it doesn't make you bad, which is different. Hopefully that makes sense.
June 5, 2015
The Very Bad Bunny- Author and Illustrator Marilyn Sadler
This book is about a bunny, named P.J Funnybunny, who is told by his family that he is a bad bunny because of the things that he does but does not mean to do. His family starts to realizes that P.J is not such a bad bunny after his cousin Binky comes over for a visit.
The content of this book focuses on redirection, respect of other peoples things, and self-regulation.
This book can be utilized to coach kids on how to do the right thing or guide them to do the right thing.
This book is about a bunny, named P.J Funnybunny, who is told by his family that he is a bad bunny because of the things that he does but does not mean to do. His family starts to realizes that P.J is not such a bad bunny after his cousin Binky comes over for a visit.
The content of this book focuses on redirection, respect of other peoples things, and self-regulation.
This book can be utilized to coach kids on how to do the right thing or guide them to do the right thing.
March 23, 2020
I like this story. I thought it was cute. However, I feel like there was no real resolution. It was just a bit open-ended. I realize the point was that Binky was a bad bunny on purpose where PJ's troubles were more from being careless about the things he knows better with. And I don't think that went full circle to make the proper point without having to reiterate it on your own.
November 26, 2019
The graphics of the book are vivid and fun to watch, and the texts are succinct and fun to read. As the book title suggests, who is “the very bad bunny”? It first appeared to be P.J. Funnybunny, who broke a flower pot while playing ball, spilled pancake syrup all over the kitchen floor, tangled up his brother’s yo-yo, cut up the newspaper before his father read it, and invited his friends over to lunch without asking his mother. All his family members thought he was such a bad bunny. And then came Binky, P.J.’s little cousin. When playing outside, Binky threw a baseball in the lake, tossed a hat into the tree, broke baseball bat, let go of air ballon, used crayons without asking and left them melt in the sun, and took the wheels off P.J.’s bike and let them run down the hill. P.J. took Binky to the house, hoping he would behave while inside. However, Binky glued checkers together, ate the last cookie, painted all over the living room floor, put bubble gum on a chair where Daddy Bunny happened to sit, and even locked everyone out of the house and jumped on the furniture.
So who won the crown of “the very bad bunny”, P.J. or Binky? For me, i saw two mischievous bunnies who seemed to be in trouble all the time. However, their attitudes toward their behaviors make it easy to award the title to Binky. P.J. always apologized for what he did and he said he didn’t mean to be bad; Binky, on the other hand, never said he was sorry, didn’t listen to others, and caused more damages and trouble. Therefore, P.J. appeared to be courteous and respectful, and caused trouble mostly by accident, except for when he was punished. Most of Binky’s behaviors, however, appeared to be conducted on purpose, disregarding others’ feelings.
Although Binky was crowned the very bad bunny, it doesn’t mean simply saying sorry after making bad choices or causing bad things to happen would be enough. For example, P.J. spilled syrup and made a mess on the kitchen floor. If he just said sorry and then walked away, it would still make him a bad bunny. If he apologized and helped clean up the floor, his behaviors would demonstrate he sincerely took on the responsibility to correct any bad consequences. This would make him a good bunny.
So who won the crown of “the very bad bunny”, P.J. or Binky? For me, i saw two mischievous bunnies who seemed to be in trouble all the time. However, their attitudes toward their behaviors make it easy to award the title to Binky. P.J. always apologized for what he did and he said he didn’t mean to be bad; Binky, on the other hand, never said he was sorry, didn’t listen to others, and caused more damages and trouble. Therefore, P.J. appeared to be courteous and respectful, and caused trouble mostly by accident, except for when he was punished. Most of Binky’s behaviors, however, appeared to be conducted on purpose, disregarding others’ feelings.
Although Binky was crowned the very bad bunny, it doesn’t mean simply saying sorry after making bad choices or causing bad things to happen would be enough. For example, P.J. spilled syrup and made a mess on the kitchen floor. If he just said sorry and then walked away, it would still make him a bad bunny. If he apologized and helped clean up the floor, his behaviors would demonstrate he sincerely took on the responsibility to correct any bad consequences. This would make him a good bunny.
January 18, 2021
PJ Funnybunny doesn't mean to be bad, but he often does inconsiderate things that upset his family. One day when a little cousin comes to visit, PJ gets to see what it is like when someone treats you and your things with disregard to other's feelings. His family can see that PJ isn't that bad, and hopefully, PJ gets to grow a little too.
March 28, 2024
PJ may break things .But is always accidental and he always apologizes. Everyone in the family thinks that he is a "very bad bunny" that is until they get a visit from one who is actually bad. The illustrations are bright and bold and the book is funny.
September 2, 2017
The very bad domenik
March 20, 2018
This book is very funny and has a good lesson.
January 29, 2019
The 2 year-old’s favorite book :)
December 7, 2020
This was pretty cute. My son likes the Funnybunnys.
December 26, 2020
For: bunny fans; readers wanting a silly book about manners and good behavior.
Possible red flags: many depictions of bad/poor behavior, some accidental and some on purpose.
Possible red flags: many depictions of bad/poor behavior, some accidental and some on purpose.
March 14, 2021
PJ Funnybunny is poorly behaved. Then his cousin comes to stay and he's even more poorly behaved. So PJ's family realize he isn't that bad. Seriously.
April 1, 2021
এই ফানি বানি সিরিজ ভাল্লাগছে! 😊
July 29, 2022
Peeman tellAmy
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2023
Dislike. Pj and Binky are not bad bunnies. They’re just bunnies making poor life choices. And they probs have ADHD.
January 8, 2025
Don't be like Binky. I hate it when bunny rabbits come over and paint bunnies all over my walls.
April 11, 2025
Great book on behavior!
October 9, 2025
This is a fun story that shows how relative bad behavior can be. The narrative is appropriate for young readers and the illustrations are cartoonish and silly.
November 19, 2025
My under-3 daughter made me read it twice in the library.
I wasn't sure what the point is... don't call someone's behavior bad because there's always someone worse?
I wasn't sure what the point is... don't call someone's behavior bad because there's always someone worse?
February 17, 2026
Sometimes P.J. Funnybunny does something bad and his parents are disappointed, but they never saw a bunny quite as bad as P.J.'s little cousin Blinky.
Blinky does some of the typical naughty things many children have done at one point in their lives, painting the walls, taking the last cookie without sharing, letting P.J.'s balloon float away. This book will allow children to learn the difference between good and bad behavior.
There could be many reasons why Blinky does bad things: maybe his parents spoiled him or he's trying to get more attention. Or he's too young to understand the consequences of his actions.
Blinky does some of the typical naughty things many children have done at one point in their lives, painting the walls, taking the last cookie without sharing, letting P.J.'s balloon float away. This book will allow children to learn the difference between good and bad behavior.
There could be many reasons why Blinky does bad things: maybe his parents spoiled him or he's trying to get more attention. Or he's too young to understand the consequences of his actions.
August 6, 2019
PJ's parents thought he was a bad bunny because he made mistakes and did things they thought were 'bad'. Little did they know that they'd be introduced to a real bad bunny when cousin Blinky comes to visit.
March 4, 2016
The "funny bunny" books are very fun to read. I think students will be able to relate to this book, because it is about a young bunny who is always getting himself into trouble. Similarly, the students in our classrooms might get in trouble at home for some of the same things that Pj (the main "funny bunny") does. This gives the teacher the opportunity to talk about these bad habits and provide some direction.
May 8, 2024
A perfect opportunity to distinguish between being bad, doing a bad thing, and having an accident, wasted. Also provides a few trouble making ideas for the unimaginative child looking to experiment with your definition and tolerance of each. This book can be safely enjoyed iff one peppers in the lessons during the reading.
April 13, 2014
This is kind of a cute read, but not really one of the best children's books in my opinion. It's basically about a bunny whose family always thinks he's bad, but he doesn't TRY to be bad. So another truly troublemaker bunny comes along, and shows the family what a really bad bunny is. Like I said, it's cute, probably worth the read, but not one of the favorites that we own.
October 1, 2014
I loved this book as a child and my son loves it now. I never thought that the bunny was bad, he just made some choices that he shouldn't have, but that didn't make him bad. Now the cousin... that's a very bad bunny!
April 11, 2016
Nothing like writing a children's book wherein the "bad bunny" family member isn't quite as bad as his "bad bunny" friend, so the family loves the "bad bunny" family member after all. That's some BS.
August 29, 2016
This Dr. Suess book shows how it is important to have good manners. It demonstrates how listening and obeying goes a lot further than not listening and ignoring others. The illustrations were very detailed and were great for preschool age children.
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November 26, 2008this book is crazy i said
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews