They would even make a lovely present for a family welcoming a new baby into the world. I would wholeheartedly recommend that every household should have a copy of these three books. It just “talks” to a part of us as parents, about the love for our children, about our hopes for their future. The last scene, an epilogue entitled “A Note to Trixie”, which ich propulses us several years alter when Trixie is herself a mother, has me welling up every time. Of course the stories work on several levels and while young audiences will delight in Trixie’s adventures, parents will be able to relate to many of the situations dealt with, from Trixie going “boneless” in the first story to the dreaded feeling of your child’s favourite cuddly toy suddenly missing. I dare any parent not to feel chocked at the end of the third volume as the readers witness a grown-up Trixie finally letting go of Knuffle Bunny and in doing so, letting go of the little girl she was once was. One of the most hilarious and clever parallels is the way Willems has recreated the same scene in each book, the scene being when it finally dawns on Trixie that Knuffle Bunny is missing: Even the book covers convey the idea of similar pattern the scene it depicts is exactly the same in all three covers but with a slightly more grown-up Trixie each time. Each journey brings with it a challenge, involving the disappearance of Knuffle Bunny, but with each resolution, comes the feeling that Trixie has matured a little. Each story follows a very similar narrative pattern: Trixie goes on a journey, may it be to the laundrette, preschool or Europe. The three books in the sequence follow little Trixie as she grows from toddler to grown-up at the very end of the last book. Their originality of these books do not only lie in the artwork the books together can be considered as sequence rather than a series, and in picture books this is rather rare. Trixie makes her peace with her loss until an unexpected reunion, and an ever more unexpected decision from Trixie.
When they realise, the beloved toy is already half way to China. Trixie is very excited about the trip, so excited that she leaves Knuffle Bunny in the plane. In Knuffle Bunny Free: an Unexpected Diversion, Trixie and her parents are off on holiday to Holland to visit Oma and Opa.
0 kommentar(er)
