Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory has just won a Lollies (Laugh Out Loud) award for the funniest picture book and we think it’s brilliant. It’s funny, full of action, chickens and chocolate – it’s the perfect book to give as an Easter present.
The Story: Mr Bunny owns a chocolate factory and his chickens eat chocolate so that they lay chocolate eggs. The chickens work hard and Mr Bunny gets rich but then greed gets the better of him and he forces his chickens to work harder. Quality goes down, complaints go up and the chickens go on strike. Mr Bunny and his quality control manager, Edgar, try and run the factory but then Edgar quits too. Will Mr Bunny have to close the factory or can he come to an agreement with his workers?
Mr Bunny’s chickens work hard and they have a variety of jobs, they don’t just lay eggs. There are chocolate makers, search and rescue chickens, office staff, a nurse and chickens responsible for maintenance who all work together to ensure the smooth running of the factory. There’s also Edgar, a unicorn!
Mr Bunny’s chocolate factory looks grey and boring on the outside but inside it’s a colourful hive of activity. We love the double page spreads showing the factory machines and the process through which the eggs are produced than packaged. Speech bubbles show the constant chatter of the chickens as they work and it is their conversations that show their increasing stress as they are forced to work harder. There are also everyday conversations about tea breaks, salad and tummy aches as well as their need to do aerobics!
Mr Bunny’s attempts to run the factory on his own are a disaster and he quickly learns that teamwork and caring for his workers is important. By the end of the book Mr Bunny has relaxed and listens to his workers who help him to ensure that his business thrives and expands. We love the final double spread that shows the range of new products that Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory now produces.
It is really difficult to explain just how funny Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory is, the story conveys an important message in a very amusing way. The more we read, the more we laugh at the illustrations and the chickens’ dialogue. My daughter thinks it’s great that one of the chickens shares her name and I always laugh at the chicken wearing her bikini.
Huge congratulations to Elys for winning the picture book category at The Lollies, all the books were voted for by children. We think it’s a worthy winner, we find more humour in the story every time we read it 🙂
Age Range: 3 +
Author / Illustrator: Elys Dolan
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