View source for Small Bunny's Blue Blanket by Tatyana Feeney

{{infobox
|title=Small Bunny's Blue Blanket
|author=Tatyana Feeney
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0192757920
|pages=32
|publisher=OUP Oxford
|date=May 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192757938</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>019275792X</amazonus>
|website=http://www.tatyanafeeney.com/
|video=
|summary=A lovely story to share, especially with little ones who have their own favourite blanket that travels anywhere and everywhere with them!
}}
Small Bunny has a blue blanket.  He loves his blanket very much and takes it everywhere he goes.  It helps him to do all the things he enjoys doing, like swinging and painting and reading.  Of course, this means that Blue Blanket gets rather dirty, and so one day Mummy says that both Small Bunny and Blue Blanket need to have a wash...

Although my own little girl has never had a strong attachment to any one item (thank goodness!) we've seen plenty of her friends (and their parents) go through the various traumas associated with these beloved items.  One little girl had a mouse, a much loved and incredibly dirty mouse.  Mouse was never allowed to have a wash and it came to pass that Mouse became really repulsive to look at (and definitely not something you wanted to kiss goodnight to!) so Mouse had to be spirited away.  Sadly Mouse did not survive the washing machine trauma and so a new Mouse had to be purchased and in order to explain her absence and then return looking completely different the little girl was told that Mouse had been to a spa!  Ah, the joys of parenting and lying to your kids!  For myself as a little girl I had two things I was very attached to.  I had a blanket, and I had a teddy.  My poor blanket ended up being cut into pieces to try to solve the 'washing' problem, but this wasn't possible with Teddy.  I remember sitting in front of a washing machine waiting and waiting for teddy to come out.  I think then, because of this, that my favourite part in this story is when Mummy puts Blue Blanket in the washing machine and says ''Don't worry...it will only take a minute'' but on the following page, with a series of pictures of Small Bunny standing in front of the washing machine, we read ''It actually took 107''!  There's a lovely, gentle sense of humour behind the story and I felt it was very relevant for little ones with their own favourite items, be that a blanket or a cuddly toy.

Blue Blanket does, of course, eventually come out of the machine and dries on the washing line, but Small Bunny does not agree with his Mummy's assessment that the blanket is now ''good as new'' and so it takes an awful lot of swinging, painting, reading and playing in order to get Blue Blanket back to perfection!

There's a wonderful simplicity to this story.  The text on each page is very clear, and the story is simple to follow so everyone from teeny tinies to bigger toddlers can follow what's happening.  The illustrations also work brilliantly with the words, with simple black, white, blue and occasional touches of pink making up the simple line drawings.  Small Bunny is sweet, and although very simple the pictures are funny and memorable.  I like the picture of Small Bunny attempting to hide under his bed, with Blue Blanket, in order to avoid the washing machine!  My little girl also laughed at this picture and it's worth noting that even though she's the grand old age of five now she liked this book and asked for it more than once.

A sweet story to share!

Another nice book about favourite items that's great for sharing with babies is [[Noo-Noos! by Carol Thompson]]

{{amazontext|amazon=0192757938}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=019275792X}}

{{commenthead}}