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Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, On the Farm & At the Port

by Britta Teckentrup

Chronicle Books*    2/25/2014

978-1-4521-1700-3

Age 4 – 8        56 pages

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Back Cover

“What is the Bunny Family doing today? Join the bunny family for a busy day in their hometown, on a fun-filled farm adventure, and at the port for an exciting outing! From the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep, there is so much to see and do. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for that pesky Benny Badger—he is always up to no good!”

Opening

“IN THE TOWN . . . Join the Bunny family for a busy day in their hometown, surrounded by friends and neighbors!”

The Story

The Bunny family—Baxter, Bethany, Mom, Dad (doctor) and Grandma Bunny—are spending the day in their hometown. There is so much to see, many other bunnies to visit, and others to greet, “Hi!” Everyone rises for the new day, dressing, eating, and opening his or her shiny, wide eyes. Outside the street is very busy. Harold Hippo is walking his pooch, Gary Gator is jogging, and—Oh, No!—Barbara Bear slips on a banana peel. 9 AM and school is ready to begin. Bethany enters kindergarten after her dad walked her to school. Baxter is on the playground with his friend Vincent, a tiger. At home, mom is feeding the two cats and grandma is knitting. Such a busy start to the day.

At 12 noon, it starts to rain. Benny Badger is leaving the bakery. What is he up to now? Grandma is on her way home with two sacks of groceries. Bethany is in a line with her classmates and Baxter is still in class. Uh, oh, a cat is on the table. Where is mom to scold the cat? 3 PM is snack time. Grandma Bunny is bringing Bethany a drink—the cat is on the floor. Baxter is learning math with his teacher, Mrs. Katz. Barbara Bear is walking down the street, aided by a crutch for her broken and casted leg. Benny Badger is a pickpocket! He is stealing Bernhard Builder’s wallet right out of his back pocket. 9 PM is time for everyone to sleep. The day was interesting. The fire department put out a fire in the apartment above the Bunny’s apartment four hours ago. Benny Badger broke into someone’s car and into the bakery. Now, at nine at night, Bethany and Baxter are asleep. The town gets quiet and the police arrest Benny Badger. Tomorrow the Bunny Family will go to the farm and the day after to the port. But wtch out! Benny Badger will be there too.

Review

Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port will keep kids busy. Originally three books, each book divided by hour segments. 6 AM starts the day, which continues at spaced intervals until bedtime and the end of the day at 9 PM. The spreads are busy with loads of activity by many anthropomorphic creatures. Before each story begins, a page of the story’s characters, illustrated and named, make finding them much easier. I found myself referring to this page many times. At the top of each spread are questions for the reader.

“Who is awake?” /  “What is Mrs. Bunny doing?” /  “Has Squawk made a friend?”

 Benny Badger is the bad badger in every story and it is always a good idea to keep track of what this scoundrel is doing. Busy Bunny Days: In the Town represents a normal day for the Bunny Family. Bethany and Baxter go to school, Dr. Bunny goes to work, and Mrs. Bunny and Grandma Bunny do all sorts of things. The creatures around the town are actually more fascinating than the Bunny Family.

Busy Bunny Days: On the Farm, the Bunny Family is visiting friends, the Gardiners, who own a farm. Interestingly, in addition to the anthropomorphic animals, there are regular animals: cows, chickens, horses, pigs, dogs.  Once again, Benny Badger is around to create havoc. The farm slower paced looks more like a tourist attraction than a working farm.

Busy Bunny Days: at the Port, is the third book in this three-book compilation, all originally published in Germany in 2011 and 2012. The port is a very busy place, and Benny Badger is there to cause trouble. I think he follows the Bunny Family, just as we are doing. Docked at the port are several ships, including a pirate ship and the Poseidon, still afloat and unloading its cargo containers. Baxter is sporting an eye patch and wielding a dagger. At the Port is the best of the three books.

The illustrations are bright, cheery, and simply fun. Each spread holds more than the eye can comprehend in one look. Kids will have so much to look for and follow throughout the day. There are more to follow from spread to spread than just the Bunny Family. Barbara Bear slips on a banana peel, breaks her leg, and returns on a crutch. Harold Hippo cannot keep a hold of his dog’s leash, the dog runs, and finds its way to the school where Baxter pets the happy mutt.  On the farm, Late at night—seven o’clock—everyone dances.

If your child likes to find things in the illustrations, then Busy Bunny Days will keep them busy for a long time. Without an actual text, kids can make up stories for their favorite character. Parents can read the questions at the top of each spread, helping their child with the answers. After that, kids can master Busy Bunny Days on their own, changing the story as they please. Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port will entertain your child while growing their imagination as they story each character in their own way, finding and following the Bunny Family and their friends and neighbors—and Benny Badger, too!

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Learn more about Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port HERE.

Buy Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port at Amazon—B&N—Chronicle Books—at your local bookstore.

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Find the author/illustrator, Britta Teckentrup at:     website      unitedartists    nosy crow  

Find more great books at Chronicle Books  at:  website     blog**     facebook     twitter

 **HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A FUNNY BOOK? NOW IS THE TIME: THE GREAT TUMBLR BOOK SEARCH SEE BLOG POST ABOVE

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BUSY BUNNY DAYS: IN THE TOWN, ON THE FAR, AT THE PORT. Text and illustrations copyright © 20111, 2012 by Britta Teckentrup. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

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*Originally published in Germany in 2011 and 2012 by Veriagshaus Jacoby & Stuart GmbH, Berlin, Germany. *Original titles: Das 24-Stunden-Wimmelbuch: In der Stadt ist was los!, Das 24-Stunden-Wimmelbuch: Auf dem Bauernhof ist!, Das 24-Stunden-Wimmelbuch: Am Hafen ist was los! *Translated by Chronicle Books, 2014.

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The latest changes have been challenging - working on the tractor details.  There was a lot left undone on this panel and there's still a ways to go.  But, I'm off to a good start (if I do say so myself).

This last week I have been working on a piece to enter into the Poster Contest at NESCBWI conference at the end of April in Massachusetts.

The brief is as follows:
The Challenge: A Whole New World  
How do you go about building an entire world in just one image? How do you use
illustration to "keep it real" ? Explore a new world in your poster.

Hmm ... I doodled about with some new ideas ... but I kept returning to an image that I created some time ago, which, in fact, is the banner for this blog and is called 'Boy and World'.

Initially I drew the sketch several years ago.

 

 

 

When Jenny Stubbs, Festival Coordinator Extraordinaire, told me I had a slot to launch ”All in the Woods” I was ecstatic! It was my first book to be published in the UK and a launch venue at the Ipswich Festival of Children’s Literature, Woodlands, was almost too good to be true. Jenny facilitated a link to Aleesa Darlison who agreed to MC. BRILLIANT! What could go wrong?

The Ipswich Festival is always an exciting event! It is held at Woodlands, a stunning, heritage listed venue set amongst rural fields, magnificent trees and rolling hills – what a setting for a launch! The lead up to the day, Tuesday, 13th September 2011, was a real buzz! Then the unthinkable happened… The weekend before, my throat started to get that irritating little scratch and that niggly cough that sometime precedes worse. Sunday night it started to hit! Laryngitis!

Friends, good friends can be the saving of such worst case scenarios. I spoke (whilst I still had a voice) to Tara Hale, who designed the promo poster, would she be Guest Artist “Pink” the possum [cousin of "Ink" the animal hero of my book]. Next I contacted  Nooroa Te Hira, he has worked as a tour guide so I knew he would ace a reading of my book. Then I rang Christian Bocquee and asked would he help with nitty grittys like directing teachers and students to seats, distributing prizes and being event photographer! Bless them, they all ‘volunteered’ unstintingly!

Result? Fun, fun, fun!  We had a ball, the book launch was a total success! The author having to use copious amounts of sign language but, hey, she has 5 kids so she speaks the  lingo with hands and fingers!

You can see some of the fun in the gallery below. [Sadly, Pink, being a nocturnal creature, was shy of the  camera flash and hid!]

And the book, which was illustrated by wonderful watercolourist Linda Gunn? It had been a truly international effort – written by an Aussie, illustrated by an American and published by a Brit! The icing on the cake was a nomination for the OPSO Award!

Here is a recent review by Kathy Schneider!

Where can you get it? Here!

0 Comments on How not to do a Book Launch?! as of 2/3/2012 4:20:00 AM

Second place

Wickham Farms

Things have been bustling here at the newly-founded Smart Cookie Studios, where our first app is almost ready to be revealed to the world!  We’re going to launch our website and social media soon (Twitter, Facebook), and are prepping for pre-release so we can finally show you all the final art, music and interactivity we’ve been working so much on.

That being said, I want to know – WHO should we tell about our app?? Do you want news and updates about our new venture yourself? Do you have a great app reviewer we should know about?  Know of someone in the industry we should follow on Twitter?  Are a fan of another great app studio? Or blog? Or developer?

I’m looking for any and everyone under the sun, so send me Twitter handles! Facebooks! Websites! Emails! Smoke signals!  I’ll love you forever…

Yesterday was a strange mixture of joy and trauma.

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By: nicole, on 6/21/2011
Blog: the enchanted easel (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  cute, animals, paint, farm, goat, green, stories for children magazine, blue, whimsical, horse, yellow, cow, barn, the enchanted easel, Add a tag

especially with some really cute animals:)

this piece is to be featured in the back to school issue of stories for children magazine www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.com the august/september 2011 i believe.

if you can't guess what the story is about based on the illustration...here's a small summary...

a cute little cow (whom i named charlie) and a cute little goat (whom i named grayling) are all psyched to enter this art show. so charlie, with his yellow paint and grayling, with his blue paint go on to create a circle sun, some lakes and flowers and are pretty happy with their creation. until...henry (my cute little pony) comes along and wants to paint as well. unfortuneately, charlie and grayling tell little henry that there is no brush for him:(

so....

henry excitedly suggests that they drop a bit of each of their 2 colors on a rock and watch henry work his magic with his little tail. well, as we all know, blue and yellow make...GREEN!!!

so charlie, grayling and sweet little henry work together as a "team" to create a wonderful painting for the art show!!!:)

so cute...:)

1 Comments on nothing like a little "teamwork"..., last added: 6/23/2011

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Kit said, on 6/23/2011 9:04:00 AM

wonderful illustration, I enjoy illustrating for
SFC also,
Kit Grady

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By: Brimful Curiosities, on 4/6/2011
Blog: Brimful Curiosities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Nature, Wordless Wednesday, Farm, Outdoor Activities, Add a tag

Remember the "A Rock for Climbing" Wordless Wednesday post from January? The weather cooperated, and we spent all day Saturday at my grandparents' farm. The kids and I climbed up the large rock outcrop with my mom's help. We did not allow them to sit on top of the rock (too dangerous with a tot) but we made it far enough up that they could see the top of the rock. My son showed no fear. My daughter on the otherhand, liked the idea of climbing but did not appreciate the brambles along the path.




I couldn't resist taking a picture of the pasture. It's so incredibly picturesque.



Find more of this week's Wordless Wednesday (or Wordful) posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.

13 Comments on Wordless Wednesday - Rock Climb at the Farm, last added: 4/8/2011

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Shelly said, on 4/6/2011 4:59:00 AM

My son would love to climb that! Looks like a great view.

http://atticgirl.blogspot.com/2011/04/wordless-wednesday-feeling-yawny.html

LadyD said, on 4/6/2011 5:04:00 AM

Very nice, clear photos. I especially like the pasture one. Seems so peaceful.

I am Harriet said, on 4/6/2011 7:35:00 AM

Looks wonderful!

Have a great Wednesday!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2011/04/what-would-you-do-if-this-guy-peeked-over-the-rail-at-you/

Kathleen said, on 4/6/2011 8:20:00 AM

Beautiful pictures! That looks like a ton of fun, the boys love to climb anything.

alissa4illustration said, on 4/6/2011 8:24:00 AM

That looks like so much fun! My in-laws used to live out in the middle of no where. We would go in the woods and look for arrowheads. I miss that. We do have a good collection of arrowheads hung in shadow boxes in our hallway.

Evangeline Denmark said, on 4/6/2011 8:49:00 AM

Thank for stopping by my blog, Breathe In Breathe Out. I'm tickled to find yours--always glad to find other moms who enjoy children's books and reading to their kids. I looked through your posts and enjoyed them. I didn't know Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote fairy poems. I'll definitely have to check that out.

CanCan said, on 4/6/2011 9:30:00 AM

Wow, gorgeous clouds, too!

Dizzy C said, on 4/6/2011 1:14:00 PM

Joining you from the UBP11.

You have such a busy blog going on here. It's lovely.
New follower

carol

blueviolet said, on 4/6/2011 1:15:00 PM

It's beautiful up there, but I agree that I'm not a fan of brambles!

TheAngelForever said, on 4/6/2011 2:41:00 PM

Gorgeous photos. The sky just makes me want to run right outside for a walk.

kim said, on 4/7/2011 7:44:00 AM

picturesque, indeed!

Baba said, on 4/7/2011 10:18:00 AM

Beautiful surroundings for a hike and climb. Fun for everyone!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said, on 4/8/2011 6:59:00 PM

That looks like some great hiking to me!

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By: Brimful Curiosities, on 3/31/2011
Blog: Brimful Curiosities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Book Review, Animals, Crafts, Farm, Peachtree Publishers, stART, 2011, Book crafts, Add a tag

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By: Ginger Nielson, on 3/18/2011
Blog: Ginger Pixels (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  animals, IF, farm, child, Ginger Nielson, cultivate, Add a tag

Just as we cultivate our gardens, there are other important friendships to cultivate.

©Ginger Nielson 2011

14 Comments on ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ CULTIVATE, last added: 3/22/2011

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Alison said, on 3/18/2011 12:26:00 PM

I really like this, both in terms of the subject and the technique with those interesting textures juxtaposed with line.

Teri C said, on 3/18/2011 12:59:00 PM

Aw sweet, and philosophical and good advice.

Michelle said, on 3/18/2011 1:19:00 PM

Beautiful and very happy too!

Juan said, on 3/18/2011 1:42:00 PM

Wonderful illo Ginger!!
Have a nice weekend!

Pop Art Minis said, on 3/19/2011 4:24:00 PM

Wonderful piece. Love your art. Popping by from IF! New Follow! http://www.popartminis.blogspot.com/

Patti said, on 3/19/2011 5:28:00 PM

nice job Ginger. I love the texture on the sheep!

INDIGENE said, on 3/20/2011 4:45:00 AM

Wonderful image, Ginger! I meant to tell you I love your banner! :)

Ginger*:) said, on 3/20/2011 6:08:00 AM

Thank you all. As we wait for the REAL spring to arrive the weatherman just announced more snow for tomorrow and next Thursday. But images like this have me hoping for the green grass and flowers to come.

ruth said, on 3/20/2011 3:23:00 PM

This is so sweet. Lovely illustration!

Susanna said, on 3/21/2011 4:32:00 AM

nice, with all the different of texture (? I hope that is the rigth word!), feeding your little friends!

Ginger*:) said, on 3/21/2011 5:11:00 AM

Many thanks. The texture on the sheep is created using a pattern that I drew combined with a special brush in Painter 11 that will "emboss" a design into the illustration. Although I like the technique, things like this are best used sparingily... a touch here and there, but never so much that the viewer gets lost in the texture and forgets about the message.

NANCY LEFKO said, on 3/21/2011 7:10:00 AM

yes indeed....lovely !!!

Jack Foster said, on 3/21/2011 6:24:00 PM

Great message Ginger! So very, very true! Love how you illustrated the message... so perfect. Great textures too. Love that look on the red hens face ;o)

Heather Davulcu said, on 3/22/2011 5:09:00 AM

I love the texture and loosness of lines--so engaging!

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By: Ginger Nielson, on 2/4/2011
Blog: Ginger Pixels (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  picture book, animals, farm, child, Ginger Nielson, dummy, Add a tag

For the dummy I like to keep the sketches rather loose.  I may want to leave a lot of the line work in this one as well.  The thick and thin lines add so much movement to the piece.  This is one half of a double page so there is no text needed here.

0 Comments on One more from the dummy... as of 1/1/1900

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New art for a Scholastic BIG book.... lots of fun.

0 Comments on New art as of 1/1/1900

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By: Brimful Curiosities, on 9/21/2010
Blog: Brimful Curiosities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Animals, Farm, Midwest, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Book Review, Picture Books, Add a tag

Lauren Appelwick, Publicity

Robert Paarlberg, author of  Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, is a leading authority on food policy, and one of the most prominent scholars writing on agricultural issues today. He is B.F. Johnson Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College and Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. He was invited to testify in front of the House Committee on Agriculture on May 13th, and shared his thoughts with us here last week. Now, after presenting his testimony on obesity, Paarlberg reflects on the experience.  You can read an excerpt from his book here.

Picking up the story, recall that I was invited to testify before the House Agriculture Committee on May 13, to share my views on new farm legislation for 2012. I was expecting a frosty reception, since I have expressed some disparaging views of farm subsidies, and also of the House and Senate agriculture committees, in my newest book. Yet the hearing took a surprising turn. The Committee wasn’t that interested in my views on farm subsidies (they have well established views of their own). Instead they wanted to talk about obesity.

In both my written testimony and in my oral statement I bravely repeated my view that farm bills were too wasteful of taxpayer money, thanks in part to the “logroll” tactics used by the House Agriculture committee. When I was asked by a senior member what I thought the chances were that this tactic could work again in 2012, I said “100 percent.” He said he “took it as a personal compliment” that I had noticed and remarked on the success of this strategy.

What got the committee’s attention, however, was my warning that drafting another business-as-usual farm bill in 2012 was going to be more difficult, because of a strengthening belief that the farm subsidies are contributing to our nation’s obesity crisis by making unhealthy foods too cheap. The committee knew, and I confirmed in my testimony, that this is in fact an unfounded charge. When the farm bill places restrictions on sugar imports to protect the income of American sugar growers it actually make all sweetened products – from candy to ice cream – artificially expensive rather than cheap. And when Congress enacts subsidies and mandates to divert 30 percent of our corn crop to the making of ethanol for auto fuel, it is making both corn and other animal feeds – and hence all meat products – artificially expensive as well. Nor is it true that corn-based sweeteners are more obesity-inducing than natural sugar. Nor is it true that the price of junk food has fallen in America while the price of healthy foods (fruits and vegetables) has remained high. All of these misconceptions about farm programs are explained in Chapter Eight of my Oxford book, my chapter on “The Politics of Obesity.”

Yet the House Agriculture Committee also knew, and I confirmed, that over the past several years a number of highly influential non-scholarly books such as Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, plus vari

In my first year of college at Cal State Los Angeles, some kitchen mishap made our dorm apartment reek. As we opened the windows to get rid of the stench, I sputtered something about the smell being worse than a skunk. One of my roommates, a born and bred Angeleno, gasped back that she wouldn’t know because she had never smelled a skunk. Even having been metropolitan-born myself, I could not believe such a thing. Never smelled a skunk? Ever? To what do you compare all bad smells (other than Long Beach)? And then it got more bizarre: she’d never seen a cow either. My mind still reels all these years later. This young woman had reached pre-med student adulthood but had never been to a petting zoo, for heaven’s sake? How is this possible? My kids have been very fortunate that they have always had a local working farm and pumpkin patch to visit where they experience the animals, from newborn to retired, up close and personal. The farm shut down as a public entity this year, but I have twenty years worth of petting, feeding, and hay riding pictures as proof that I at least tried to broaden their suburban horizons. Annie North Bedford’s The Jolly Barnyard shows an idyllic picture of farm animals brainstorming what contributions they can make to the farmer’s birthday celebration. Maybe there’s some rich Southern California doctor that would pay for them to take their show on the road to the inner city.

http://www.amazon.com/Jolly-Barnyard-Little-Golden-Book/dp/0375828427

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/585620.Annie_North_Bedford