There are a lot of Zadie’s books that I love, but few that I find myself relating to as an adult. Yes, “Who Likes Rain?” reminds me of how it felt to go puddle jumping when the puddles came up to my ankles, “Olivia” reminds me of being sent to my room for misbehaving, and “Miss Bindergarten…” reminds me of my own kindergarten Thanksgiving celebration. But when Mr. McGreely battles with three little bunnies for control of his garden in “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!,” I’m reminded of my frustration with last summer’s attempt to grow tomatoes in pots. As much as I adore and admire the little bunnies, I find myself rooting for Mr. McGreely with all of his crotchety middle-aged obsessiveness.
In this book Mr. McGreely plants a vegetable garden. When the sun goes down three hungry bunnies get into his garden and “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!” He wakes up in the morning, sees his decimated plants, and builds a fence around the garden to keep the bunnies out. The bunnies get in again, and he builds a bigger fence around the smaller fence around the garden. The battle escalates until there are two fences, a trench, and a high brick wall around the garden. This keeps the bunnies out until they sneak into McGreely’s basket as he’s climbing over the wall to collect his veggies. The story is simple but all too familiar to anyone who has planted a garden with high hopes.
The illustrations are scribbly and earth-toned, but it’s the text that stands out. It’s filled with internal rhymes, so it doesn’t sound quite like a poem, but is as fun to read. The sounds of the bunnies breaking into the garden become more involved with each additional hurdle they face so that by the time they’re navigating the trench and two fences we hear:
Tippy-tippy-tippy, Pat!
Dive-paddle, Splash! Splash! Splash!
Dig-scrabble, Scratch! Scratch Scratch!
Spring-hurdle, Dash! Dash! Dash!
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
This book has more words per page and a more complex plot than Zadie is accustomed to, but we always make it the whole way through. To my surprise, when she wants to read this one she doesn’t say anything about the bunnies or about munching. Instead, she says “Em-greely.”
This book is currently on Zadie’s list of haunted items in our house. We’ve witnessed the posession of toys before, but this is the first time it has happened to a book. I usually have no idea why a once-beloved object (a benign plastic boat, a green monkey, a flashcard with a baboon on it…) becomes taboo. In the case of “Boo Hoo Bird” I have a guess.
Right around the time that Zadie started to take an interest in reading–rather than eating–books, I read a 
The text on each page is short, which makes it perfect for little ones who are moving beyond board books but are sometimes overly eager to turn the page. And I love love love the illustrations, which are watercolor and ink but almost look like woodcuts. After just a reading or two, little Z had picked up on each animal’s emotions–a testament to Henkes’ ability to portray both sadness and joy. I was sad to take this one back to the library this afternoon, but am quite excited that we’re getting Z “Kitten’s First Full Moon” for Christmas.