Betty Bunny Wants a Goal
1 Hardcover/1 CD (see all formats)

Betty Bunny's intense personality and over-the-top reactions make her a handful. With pseudo-innocence, she's smuggled chocolate cake to school in her sock, blamed others for her missteps, and demanded to have every toy in the store. But Betty Bunny's fans will see a new facet of the popular heroine in her fourth adventure. She's not filled with her usual self-assurance after her first soccer game. The overconfident Betty, who was certain she'd score 10 goals, fails and wants to give up. Katherine Kellgren's crisp, mostly sunny narration matches the lively pictures of author-illustrator Michael Kaplan. Kellgren also captures the roller-coaster emotions of the fiercely competitive bunny. Sound effects enhance the humor as does Kellgren's wry portrayal of Betty's older brother, Bill, who costars in this adventure.

Together, Kellgren and Betty Bunny are a handful—or, better yet, an earful. You know this because from the very first syllable Kellgren utters, she inhabits this irascible, ornery, but ultimately optimistic child—er, rabbit—in a way that lets listeners know inside every narrator lurks a secret tantrum just waiting to get out. And get out it does, until the lure of a trophy gets Betty back in the game. From Betty Bunny’s anguish when her friend Alyse scores the first goal (“I hate soccer! I’m never playing again”) to big- brother Bill’s carefully calculated ennui, every emotion—from nuanced to histrionic—is delivered with pitch-perfect verve. Occasional sound effects add verisimilitude to this fourth hare-y installment, in which, once again, our favorite all-too-human rabbit turns the lightly underlined lesson (“If you keep trying and if you practice, there’s nothing you can’t do”) to her own advantage.