Emily Brown loves to pretend play with her stuffed animal bunny named Stanley. Day after day though, Queen Gloriana sends messengers asking that Stanley be delivered to her. Emily insists that Stanley is not for sale, but soon the queen turns to drastic measures...

This is a humorous book with a lot of imagination behind it. I could see it being well received as a read-aloud or as a one-on-one book with kids in elementary school. They will get a kick out of the increasingly absurd bribes from the queen and are still young enough to get the appeal of a special, well-loved toy. The illustrations are appropriately whimsical. ( )

i'm just like the little girl because i have my favorite guinea pig and we have adventures too. ( )

Anyone who has ever had a beloved toy - a stuffed animal, a teddy-bear, a doll - will appreciate this tale of a little girl and her deep attachment to Stanley, a stuffed rabbit. When Queen Gloriana notices Stanley - whom she christens "Bunnywunny" - she sends messenger after messenger to negotiate an exchange, but Emily will have none of it - Stanley is hers, and she wouldn't trade him for all the toys in the world! When he goes missing one night, Emily knows where to look, storming the castle and teaching Gloriana a lesson!

With an amusing story, and appealing mixed-media illustrations, That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown is a picture-book that is sure to satisfy its young readers! I particularly appreciated the many kinds of imaginative play that Emily and Stanley engage in, from deep-sea diving off the Great Barrier Reef, to climbing into the canopy of the Amazon rain-forest, as well as the message that it is the creation of memories, through such games, that gives our favorite playthings their special significance. ( )

I really enjoyed this book about how important imagination is for young children and how important friends are (even stuffed ones).

The Queen wants Emily Brown's special toy rabbit, Stanley. Emily is pleasant about the requests at first - although she repeatedly corrects the Queen and her ministers for calling Stanley Bunny Wunny - but as the requests persist, and change from petitions to commands, Emily loses her patience. She insists that they leave her alone; instead, special commandos raid her house at night and steal Stanley away! Emily is a no-nonsense girl, so she marches up to the palace to rescue her bunny. Surprisingly, the Queen is happy to see her, because Stanley isn't right anymore - he has lost all his character. Emily rescues her toy and tells the queen the secret for a unique friend: buy the toy brand-new, and then love it and play with it and treasure it, until it is truly your own.

The message behind the story reminded me of the Velveteen Rabbit; that a possession is valuable due to sentimental reasons and not for material appearance, and also that a toy can be a beloved playmate for a child, can be real for her. A sweet message. In this case, it's delivered with a good deal of humor. The illustrations for the book are also funny, juxtaposing an image that is a photograph with the line drawings and watercolors of the rest of the page. The hyper real joined to the cartoony adds to a surreal feel for the book, and corresponds to Emily's vivid pretend play. It's an interesting book, very readable, and with a good message that is delivered with laughs. ( )