Buddy the monster is on a rampage and fluffy little bunnies are not going to stop him from behaving monstrously and eating them. Or are they? The humor in Bob Shea’s picture book arises first from the absurdity of its premise, and extends both verbally and visually as the bunnies (who keep getting larger in number) prove their unwitting enemy is really their friend. Buddy is either too full (of the cupcakes the bunnies baked) or too moved (“They look so cute when they’re napping.”) or too charmed (they started a “stripey-stripe” club in his honor) to argue, especially when the bunnies keep suggesting so many fun things to do. Most of all, he’s too easily distracted, until the bunnies point out that all the fun they’ve been having together means he can’t eat them. Everyone knows: “Don’t play with your food!” (Ages 4–8)

Rah! Buddy's a monster, and he's hungry! Time for all cute little bunnies to hop into his mouth. "Oh no!" they say. "There are cupcakes in the oven!" They offer Buddy some, and he becomes too full to eat the bunnies. He'll have to come back tomorrow. And so it goes between Buddy and the bunnies--they take him swimming, after which he is too tired to eat; they take him on all the rides at a carnival, after which he is too dizzy to eat; they even form a Buddy fan club . . . and who could eat their own fan club? Eventually Buddy realizes that the bunnies have tricked him. The bunnies aren't food at all--they are friends!

The bunnies' seemingly naive offers of friendship are a charming--and clever--mode of survival in this sweet and silly story about a not-at-all-scary monster.