BumbleBunnies: The sock by Graeme Base

BumbleBunnies, book 2. HarperCollins, 2019. ISBN: 9781460753972.
(Age: 2-6) Recommended. Themes: Superheroes, Washing, Problem solving. With exquisite pictures that demand the reader examine each one again and again, Base has given very young readers a lovely introduction to superheroes. In the second book Wuffle the puppy, Lou the kitten and Billington the duck are watching the washing blow around in the wind, when a sock blows off and lands near a muddy puddle. What a dilemma! How are the friends going to get the sock back on the line? After some misadventures with the sock, the BumbleBunnies, those long eared heroes, come to the rescue.
The text is simple and easy for a beginning reader, but reads aloud very well for the pre-schooler, who will have lots of fun identifying each of the characters - even their names give clues to who they are and the expressions on their faces as they fight over the sock are priceless. Readers too, will enjoy having knowledge about who the BumbleBunnies really are, while Wuffle, Lou and Billington are bamboozled by the masks, capes and equipment that they carry. It is fun to try and work out just what is in the garden that will help the superheroes get the sock back on the line and just what skills they will have to use as they come up with a wonderful solution to the problem.
The illustrations are ones that beg for a revisit, as something new and interesting will be found to look at in the rich hues of the garden. The vivid drawings of all the characters ensure the reader becomes familiar with each individual personalities.
The second book can be read as a stand alone, as there is plenty of information about all the characters, but once started on this series, young children will be asking for more stories about the BumbleBunnies and the three friends and will certainly want to read the first book, Bumblebunnies : The pond.
Pat Pledger