Hot Fudge

Bunnicula and Friends #2

by James Howe, Jeff Mack (Illustrator)

Is there a burglar on the loose? Harold, Chester, and Howie are guarding the Monroe house -- especially a batch of Mr. Monroe's famous fudge. But they fall asleep -- and wake up to discover the fudge has turned white! Has Bunnicula acquired a taste for chocolate in addition to vegetables? Chester is sure of it! But then the fudge disappears -- and it's up to Harold, Chester, and Howie to catch the thief!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Mystery, Food, Juvenile

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

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

James Howe has written more than eighty books in the thirty-plus years he's been writing for young readers. It sometimes confuses people that the author of the humorous Bunnicula series also wrote the dark young adult novel, The Watcher, or such beginning reader series as Pinky and Rex and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award-winning Houndsley and Catina and its sequels. But from the beginning of his career (which came about somewhat by accident after asking himself what kind of vampire a rabbit might make), he has been most interested in letting his imagination take him in whatever direction it cared to. So far, his imagination has led him to picture books, such as I Wish I Were a Butterfly and Brontorina (about a dinosaur who dreams of being a ballerina), mysteries, poetry (in the upcoming Addie on the Inside), and fiction that deals with issues that matter deeply to him. He is especially proud of The Misfits, which inspired national No Name-Calling Week (www.nonamecallingweek.org) and its sequel Totally Joe. He does not know where his imagination will take him in the next thirty-plus years, but he is looking forward to finding out.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple mystery in the Bunnicula books. This is for young readers like 3rd grade and up. What happened to the fudge that was made. It turned white? Was it the vampire bunny Bunnicula? Chester and Harold are on the case again.

I prefer the full children's book set to this easy reader set and this is good for kids just starting out and it will lead them into the older series.

[Perrilyn Pringle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always cute stories, and I love the illustrations.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written from the point of view of Harry, one of the family’s dogs, this picture book mystery will have young readers trying to figure out who stole everyone’s favorite sweet treat. When Mr. Monroe makes a big batch of fudge, the whole house smells delightful. The family leaves, and Harry and the rest of the house pets are left to guard the house. But when they wake up from their naps to loud noises and missing fudge, they need to take immediate action. This would be a good book to share with kids to discuss point of view or as a good mentor text for mystery writing. Make sure that you let kids know that they should never give chocolate to pets, as it could make them very sick. There is a note about that, but as it’s in small print that appears at the end of a recipe for fudge, it may get overlooked.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Harold & Chester book, two dogs that live together along with their friend the cat Chester and a bunny that the younger dog thinks is a vampire bunny!

In this story The boy that owns the oldest dog shares his chocolate candy and his bedtime story with him. That next day the human dad was making fudge and left it out to cool. The dogs REALLY wanted to eat it but they thought there was an intruder in the house so they had to sit on guard. When someone really did come up and take the fudge they had to run them down! And it ended up being their owner had come back for the fudge for a contest.

The story itself was okay, but it's encouraging children to give candy and chocolate to their dogs. And chocolate WILL KILL dogs. It's very dangerous to them. So this book encouraging them is very wrong.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really enjoyed this "mystery" in the Bunnicula and Friends series. Chester, Howie and Harold always seem to get into innocent mischief and the results are pretty funny. It's a great book for beginning readers and our girls are big fans of these characters.

I love that the local library is featured in this book. Our girls have really enjoyed the books about Bunnicula and his family and we will certainly look for more in the series.

[Spencer Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty funny and had cute little illustrations to go along with it. This book is a ready to read book and for a level 3 reader. I think it is an excellent book for a young reader to be introduced to chapter books and and longer texts and includes some funny events throughout the book. This book is modern fantasy and is in the 4th-5th grade range

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harold the dog, and his fellow pets, Howie and Chester stand guard while the Monroe's are away from the house. When a pan of freshly baked fudge suddenly turns white, and later disappears Chester suspects that Bunnicula, who Chester still thinks is a vampire is up to his tricks again, or a candy bandit is on the loose. Either way there's a mystery to be solved, and questions to be answered.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Bunnicula. Cute as ever. I just adore Chester.

[Tiffiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a level 3 ready to read book. My 10-yr-old son read it because he is on a Bunnicula kick! He said about this one, "It was cute."

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is s a really cute series! I am excited to read them all with my students :)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bunnicula series was a favorite of my sons. Now I have introduced Bunnicula to my grandchild. It is still fun to read, and it has been enough time passed so I had forgotten how it ended!

[melhara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read the original Bunnicula but I quite enjoy this young reader version (beginner chapter book), which follows the story of Harold the dog who loves fudge and suspects that Bunnicula had something to do with the white fudge in the kitchen.

I liked the first book a lot more though, hence the three-star review.

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Part of a personal challenge to read all of my boyfriend's and his sister's childhood books before we donate and give them away

[Zoe Tandy]

Only read this book beacause its my bday book

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dog, Badger, loves the Bunnicula books too.

[Star ☔️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book. A. + H.

[Anne Washington]

This is a cute, entertaining children's book.