PLAID BEAR AND THE RUDE RABBIT GANG

by P. K. Roche ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 1982

Just as motorcyclists have been harassing teenage protagonists in older fiction, rude rabbits on bicycles disturb the vacation trip of Plaid Bear and his friends Sarah Mouse, Rod Panda, and Amanda Chicken. That the friends are stuffed toys (which explains the mouse's superior size) is evident from the visible stitching on all four, whereas neither the rabbits nor the other tidily-dressed animals seen along the way have this look. (The implications of life intruding on a sewed-up nursery world are obvious, but whatever one might make of that is no doubt unintended.) Anyway, the rabbits bump the vacationers off the road, spill Plaid Bear's lemonade at a sidewalk cafe, toss stolen jelly beans and Plaid Bear himself in the air at an amusement park, and eat up the friends' picnic at the beach. Finally, the four stuffed friends dress up as one big sea monster to scare the camping rabbits. But just as readers might, one of the frightened rabbits spies a pair of chicken feet back toward the ""monster's"" tail. All is saved when policeman Finn Doggo shows up ""just in the nick of time"" and takes the rude rabbits off to jail. The appeal is of the quaint and tidy sort, and the same audience will be captivated by Roche's Easter-egg palette, the rabbits' expressions and antics, and such touches as the monster's tiny chicken feet.

Pub Date: May 12, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1982

Categories: CHILDREN'S