Bunns Rabbit is an enchanting middle grade novel with the most stunning, soft-focused illustrations throughout from award-winning director, writer and animator Alan Barillaro. It’s a heartwarming parable that tells the story of Bunns Rabbit, who is born with smaller ears than the rest of his brothers and sisters and the other meadow rabbits in his community. This, it is thought, will bring great pain and trouble to the meadow.

Bunns undertakes a quest to change himself so that he will fit in, but this doesn’t go according to plan and shows Bunns and the others what is truly important – authenticity, friendship and family. At the heart of this story is a message about accepting yourself, with all your differences, and that what makes you different may actually be the quality that makes you unique and special.

In the style of Watership Down and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, this tale of little Bunns will appeal to fans – young and old alike – of those classics and of Runt. It’s particularly tailored for 9–12-year-olds, but reading it together would be a beautiful experience. I can’t recommend this book, with its gorgeous message about difference and strength, more highly.