Blue Rabbit and the Runaway Wheel: 7

by Christopher Wormell

In search of the wheel that fell off his bicycle, Blue Rabbit encounters several animals, all of whom have been disturbed by a strange whizzing object. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803725086
• ISBN13: 9780803725089
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.6" x 10.5"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

3 1/2 A Bad Wheel Rolls Nobody Good

Christopher Wormell again portrays Blue Rabbit's adventures with his beautifully rendered color block prints. Outlines are thick black lines, and Wormell lightens the looks with wash-like backgrounds, and outlined shadings. Those shadings are not graduated; rather, they sometimes have an almost paint-by-number look, but they work within the context of the larger block painting. Blue Rabbit is not held up as the more cautious or perceptive of animals here, so he's never a paragon of virtue: "One day when Blue Rabbit was looking for adventure instead of where he was going..." Rabbit's bike hits a rock, and the wheel comes off, spinning away on a very wide circular path that leaves several animals worse for wear. Looking for his tire, Blue Rabbit meets the first animal (a squirrel) and congratulates him (politely, but making assumptions...) on his fine pile of firewood. Squirrel is angry. THe "firewood" is actually the remains of a house he was building. Next, Rabbit meets a big Badger and says, "Nice day for a mud bath." Not so fast, Rabbit... that Badger was knocked over into a puddle by something from a bike. Rabbit makes the same mistake with a turtle. It's hard to tell if Rabbit really doesn't know what's happened to these animals, or is faking his naivete. I thing he's suspects it has something to do with him. After hearing Badger stating that whatever knocked him over "must have been on a bike," Rabbit says to himself, "On a bike....oh dear." In any event, what goes around, come around, and the wheel track leads Rabbit and his three acquaintances (let's not call them friends) back to the broken bicycle by the rock. As they realize what's happened, the animals get quite upset and angry, with accusing looks. Now, some readers here have complained about Rabbit's morals. I'm not so sure if a Rogerian approach OR an apology would have worked with these three critters. After all, we're told that Rabbit escapes on his bike "before they could catch him." (Before they could catch him!) I know that Rabbit doesn't set a good example for kids by simply riding away, but I believe that badgers can eat rabbits. What bothers me more than not showing the animals make up and become pals is the abrupt conclusion. The story is over before you know it, too soon, too conveniently, and without much satisfaction. Whatever moral qualms you may or may not have, that narrative shortfall undercuts the book's pictorial beauty.

Best book ever!

So i picked up this book off the shelf at my library and i read through it and thought it was nice and fun. It looked like a really simple sweet book. At the turn of each page we are introduced to another character and there's a really awesome badger character. anyways, the ending is the best ending ever. blue rabbit gets away from these guys who are very pissed off at him. He gets away like that. It's sooo perfect. So refreshing. If you're teaching it as a lesson as to "not" what to do for your kids, you're completely missing the point. There is no real point. it's just awesome. Most books would resolve the ending by having the rabbit say he was sorry for riding wreckless. but he really wasn't that wreckless. He hit a rock and it really wasn't his fault. if you don't like the ending to this book, then i'm sorry, we could never be friends, and in fact just might as well be enemies. write your own books with their own predictable unimaginative endings why don't you. :)