Bun Bun's Birthday

Susannah D. Ketchum, a former teacher-librarian at the Bishop Strachan
School in Toronto, serves on the Southern Ontario Library Services
Board.

Winifred is excited. Her parents are having a party and—since the last
party was for her brother Eugene—she is sure that it must for her
because her birthday comes next after his. But it’s not. The party and
the decorations are to celebrate her baby sister Bun Bun’s first
birthday. Upset, Winifred hides in a cupboard and sulks. But she’s not
there for long; Mom helps her find a solution.

Richard Scrimger, author of The Way to Schenectady (1998), The Nose
from Jupiter (1998), and A Nose for Adventure (2000), three popular
middle-school titles, packs a lot into his first picture book.
Characters include baby Bun Bun, Eugene, who has “an odd way of
thinking about things,” and Nana, “a funny frog figure in a big
overcoat and a hat like a flowerpot,” who announces her arrival by
throwing a snowball against the front window. Winifred, herself, though
she is realistically self-centred, eventually adapts to her role as
“big sister.”

Gillian Johnson’s quirky, caricature-like illustrations work well
with the text, giving the story life and depth. Recommended.