Wed Wabbit

Product Information

Children’s publishing is starting with a bang this year with the release of Lissa Evans’s latest children’s novel, a riotously funny adventure tale called Wed Wabbit. The story, ideal for readers aged 8-12, is about a girl called Fidge (short for Iphigenia), who lives with her dippy mother and four-year-old little sister Minnie. Minnie is obsessed with her furry red toy rabbit (the eponymous Wed Wabbit) and a picture book about the Wimbley Woos (an odd group of multicoloured creatures who speak only in verse), and the importance of these strange characters becomes more apparent as the plot progresses.

I must say, throughout my group, Wed Wabbit was the one which everyone seemed to dread, due to a few people having reviewed it and slated it, to the point where it is almost being treated as either the book to get over and done with or as the book to just avoid. Amusingly, it has quite an infamous reputation throughout the group as being a bit dire. Ella and Dr Carrot — and indeed Wed Wabbit —have quite distinctive ways of speaking, what does it tell you about their personalities? Fidge and Graham get separated when they end up in the Land of Wimbley Woos, which is basically at war, and everything is so weird and dark and hopeless... For me it’s a rollercoaster of emotions that I’m trying to manipulate the reader into’ - Alex Wheatle on fictional world building, creating new language and seeing yourself in a book Wed Wabbit was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2018 and the Costa Children's Book Award in 2017. About the authorBeing a ten year old can be hard – you’re capable of complex thoughts and emotions, yet others (usually adults) can still insist on infantilising you. Evans pokes fun at that tension in this sublimely funny book by placing a clever, spiky heroine into the very childish Land of the Wimbley Woos. Another recurring theme is moving on and growing up (again, both The Wizard of Oz and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have similar themes). Fidge grows up by moving away from her scepticism and moody nature towards Minnie’s stories; Minnie however also grows up a lot in this story! Towards the end of the book, Fidge asks Minnie “oh where’s Wed Wabbit” and she replies saying that he was staying behind today in the bedroom to ‘tidy up’. Fidge just smiles and thinks ‘that happens, things change’, which shows both how she has matured AND how children mature naturally and we only need to accept that. Lissa Evans is a great storyteller and the book is very funny as well as reminding us of the importance of celebrating and valuing the differences which make us all special and unique. Full of humour, Wed Wabbit would also make a wonderful read aloud story for enjoying and sharing. Therefore, part of this story is about acceptance: after Fidge is initially very sceptical towards Minnie’s toys and stories, she eventually learns to accept them and happily go along with them for the sake of her sister. Due to how her not doing this led to Minnie’s accident, followed by how crucial Minnie’s information was to her when she was in Wimbley Land, this moral lesson is very present by the end of the book.

Now imagine you’re reading a line that’s obviously supposed to be funny, but it doesn’t make you laugh. THE WRITER HAS FAILED. Illustration from Gorilla by Anthony Browne One Christmas Wish by Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Emily Sutton After an accident involving her younger sister, Minerva (known as Minnie), Iphigenia (also known as Fidge) finds herself plunged into the land of the Wimbley Woos accompanied by her annoying cousin, Graham, Dr Carrot (a human-sized plastic carrot mounted on small orange wheels) and Eleanor, a purple cloth elephant in a pink skirt. A dangerous dictator - Wed Wabbit - has taken over the land and is draining it of all colour and hope. Fidge must solve a series of almost impossible clues to make her way home and put everything right again. Will she be able to work things out in time?This book is a must for adults and children, and whilst incredibly funny, also carries a deep message about how differences must be embraced and celebrated. In places, it did move me to tears. Anthony Browne is another great example – the appearance of gorillas throughout the story, popping up in newspapers and on cereal boxes, creates a sense that something more than meets the eye is going on. Hannah’s sadness at being given a gorilla toy instead of fatherly love she craves becomes a magic, surreal night-time journey to the zoo and the cinema, complete with and a moonlit dance on the lawn under the watchful eye of topiary chimps. Fact: when Fidge had thrown all Minnie’s toys down the stairs at Graham’s house, the thing that had happened next—the huge soundless static explosion—must have somehow churned them together, and who knew what might—