I stumbled on this series, during my periodic trips to those shabby
out-of-the-way shops that advertise ‘BOOKS SOLD BY THE KILO’. You enter a
semi-dark room, wondering what you will find, and if you are a bibliophile like
me, you prepare yourself for an amazing sight. Especially, if you are a
vertically challenged bibliophile like me. You are surrounded by books, piled
up on the floor, or arranged on rough wooden tables knocked together for this
purpose. There are thousands, make that tens of thousands, of books from every
genre that one can think of. I love going to such shops as I come across titles I do not encounter in more traditional bookstores.
And that’s how I found
Bunnincula, a pet rabbit adopted by the Monroe family, and said to have strange
vampire-like taste in matters of food and drink.
The books are written with cracking humour by James Howe and illustrated
magnificently by Brett Helquist.
The House
of Bunnincula series is a spin-off by the original series purportedly written
by the family dog, Harold. In this new series, the story is narrated by a
puppy, Howie, who sees himself as an aspiring writer. The first book, It Came From Beneath the Bed! is, in
Howie’s words, “about how a talented and lovable (not to mention
smart) wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie saves the world from a
disgusting, evil menace named...oops, that would give away the story”. Howie
soon discovers that a writer’s life isn’t easy. “My friend Delilah stopped
speaking to me because I put her in my book. Uncle Harold stopped speaking to
me because I didn't put him in my book”.
The fun never stops as long as Howie is picking
up writing .
He also enjoys himself playing the hero and saving the
world from a science experiment gone wrong. There are six books in the series,
and they are all enjoyable.