Editorial Content for Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire

Poor Madeline! On the day of a big island celebration, Luminara, her parents have been kidnapped. To make matters worse, she thinks she sees a mysterious car speed away with red eyes peering out; it looks like a fox was driving it. Now she fears that anyone who hears her story may think she isn’t playing with a full deck. Where could her mom and dad be? Who has taken them? Fortunately, the kidnappers have left some clues: a note and a file card with a secret code.

Madeline knows someone who can help her crack the code on the file card --- her Uncle Runyon. When she arrives at his house, she finds him sick in bed with a fever. He tries to help her, but falls into a coma. Oh no! What will she do? By chance she meets two detectives, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, who sympathize with her and agree to work with her for free.

The bunnies get straight to work. They ask a marmot called The Marmot to help them crack the secret code as he is supposed to have a knack for such things. It’ll cost them a lot of garlic bread to get this marmot talking, so they bring him to a restaurant with really good garlic bread. Things are going splendidly until the marmot excuses himself to use the restroom. The file card faces a terrible end and goes missing. That’s one clue they won’t be able to use. They will have to piece together the mystery themselves. Clever right up until the end, it unfolds with lots of twists and turns.

MR. AND MRS. BUNNY – DETECTIVES EXTRAORDINAIRE! is a very funny book, and author Polly Horvath adds a lot of witty details. For instance, Mr. Bunny wears disco platform shoes so he can reach the gas peddles. The fox gang leader is called the Grand Poobah. Madeline’s parents are two hippies who are way out there. They try to learn to speak fox from their captors, but aren’t swift enough to get the hang of it. Also, it’s an interesting twist that Horvath chose for the story to be written by Mrs. Bunny, her first novel. And last but certainly not least, Sophie Blackall’s illustrations are charming and really capture the spirit of this wonderful book