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    Bunnicula Strikes Again!
    Bunnicula Strikes Again!
    Bunnicula Strikes Again!
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    Bunnicula Strikes Again!

    By James Howe and Alan Daniel

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    "Let's just say the matter is under control," Chester slyly tells his pals Harold and Howie. But what on earth does he mean?
    It seems that Bunnicula, the vampire rabbit, is back to his old ways -- or so Chester thinks, having found pale vegetables drained of their juices scattered about the Monroe family kitchen. And now, once and for all, Chester is determined to save the world from this threat.
    But why has Bunnicula -- so frisky just a short time ago -- been so listless and tired of late? Is this part of Chester's scheme? Can Harold let Chester get away with hurting an innocent bunny, no matter what his harebrained suspicions are?
    It is not long before the Monroes notice Bunnicula's condition and rush him to the vet, and then the chase is on, ending up with a dramatic confrontation in a most unusual (and dangerous!) location.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtheneum Books for Young Readers
    Release dateDec 20, 2011
    ISBN9781442451940
    Bunnicula Strikes Again!
    Author

    James Howe

    James Howe is the author of more than ninety books for young readers. Bunnicula, coauthored by his late wife Deborah and published in 1979, is considered a modern classic of children’s literature. The author has written six highly popular sequels, along with the spinoff series Tales from the House of Bunnicula and Bunnicula and Friends. Among his other books are picture books such as Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores and beginning reader series that include the Pinky and Rex and Houndsley and Catina books. He has also written for older readers. The Misfits, published in 2001, inspired the nationwide antibullying initiative No Name-Calling Week, as well as three sequels, Totally Joe, Addie on the Inside, and Also Known as Elvis. A common theme in James Howe’s books from preschool through teens is the acceptance of difference and being true to oneself. Visit him online at JamesHowe.com.

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    • 4/5
       Bunnicula is probably one of the most precious characters I've seen in children's book. He doesn't say or do anything, yet he's so well portrayed that I am hardcore in love with him I really hope Howe eventually does a book from Bunnicula's perspective.Harold is an interesting character, though I find myself much more drawn to Howie (probably because I read Tales from the House of Bunnicula before this book). Chester is just obnoxious for the most part, though.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book is about a rabbit but Is not a rabbit but a vampire. He is trying to see If the rabbit is a mean one or a nice one. So now Chester needs a vet to calm the vampire bunny. But now he is following the rabbit to prove that he is still a bed rabbit

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Bunnicula Strikes Again! - James Howe

    [ ONE ]

    The End

    HOW unexpectedly the end can come. Had I even thought such a thing was possible, I might have noticed the warning signs that Friday night one May when, ironically, I was feeling so at peace with the world. I remember the feeling well, for although a general sense of contentedness is part of a dog’s nature, keen awareness of just how fortunate one is comes along less frequently than you might imagine. This was one of those rare moments.

    I was stretched out on the bed next to my master, Toby. I call him my master because while there are four members of the Monroe family, it is the youngest who treats me with the greatest kindness and consideration. On Friday nights, for instance, Toby, who is allowed to stay up late to read, shares his stash of treats with me. He knows how much I love chocolate, and so he’s always sure to have at least one chocolaty delight ready and waiting for me. (Some of my readers have written expressing their concern about the potentially detrimental effects of chocolate on dogs, to which I can only say that while it is true some dogs have been known to become ill from eating chocolate, others have not. Luckily, I fall into the latter category. Also, I hasten to remind my readers that I, like the books I have written, am a work of fiction.)

    Parenthetical digression aside, I return to that Friday evening in May when I lay happily snuggled up next to my favorite boy, my mouth blissfully tingling from the lingering taste of my favorite food—a chocolate cupcake with cream in the middle, yum. Toby’s hand rested on my head, which in turn rested on his outstretched legs. The warm spring breeze wafted through the open window, gently carrying Toby’s voice as he read to me. Toby is the kind of reader who devours books—and long books, at that—unlike his older brother, Pete, whose reading is limited to a series of truly gross horror novels called FleshCrawlers. (Believe me, I know they’re gross; I chewed on one once and the cheap glue they use on the bindings made me sick as a—you should pardon the expression—dog. Give me Literature any day!)

    Lulled by Toby’s voice, I remember thinking how perfect my life seemed at that moment. My best friend, Chester, had undoubtedly settled himself in on the brown velvet armchair in the living room below and was now contentedly sleeping or shedding or reading. He, like Toby, is a voracious reader, which may surprise you, given that he’s a cat; but, again, in the world of fiction, anything is possible. Consider the other two members of the Monroe menagerie: Howie, a wirehaired dachshund puppy who Chester maintains is part werewolf, and Bunnicula, a rabbit with fangs. While Chester doesn’t concern himself much with Howie’s howling, seeing it as irritating but harmless, he does work himself up into a fancy frenzy from time to time over the dangers he imagines Bunnicula poses to our vegetables, our family, the town in which we live, and, when he’s really on a roll, Civilization as we know it.

    Now all of this may seem very strange to you, but to me it is just life. I couldn’t picture it any other way. Over time, the eight of us in our family—four people, four pets—have settled into the comforting rhythms of a song without end. Or so I thought.

    I had been only vaguely listening to the story Toby was reading. I knew that it was about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Watson because those stories were all that Toby had been reading for weeks. I had grown fond of Holmes and had often thought that his friendship with Watson was something like mine with Chester. I was therefore unprepared for the terrible event that concluded this particular tale, in which Watson tells of the final confrontation between Holmes and his archenemy, the evil Professor Moriarty.

    ‘As I turned away I saw Holmes, with his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world,’ Toby read.

    I lifted my head and woofed. Was it possible? Would Holmes perish? Could an author be so cruel as to kill off his most beloved character?

    As if he could read my mind, Toby looked down at me with a forlorn expression on his face. Are you worried about what’s going to happen? he asked. I wish I could tell you the story has a happy ending, boy, but . . . Well, I guess I’d better just finish reading.

    I listened attentively to every word. You may imagine my shock when it was revealed that Holmes and Moriarty, locked in a deadly embrace, tumbled from the precipice overlooking Reichenbach Falls into that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam, where they were lost forever.

    I couldn’t believe it! The author had really done it! He had killed Sherlock Holmes! I would have written him an irate letter then and there if I’d known where the Monroes kept their stamps—and if it hadn’t occurred to me that the author had been dead for three-quarters of a century.

    I began to whimper and Toby, whose own eyes were glistening, bent over me and crooned, There, there, boy. It’s only a story. But Toby is a sensitive lad, and I knew that for him, as for me, there was something more here than a story. There was the painful recognition that all too quickly things can change. I didn’t like it. I wanted my world to go on as it always had. I wanted to be sure that Friday nights would always mean treats with Toby, that Chester would always be my friend, that Bunnicula would always be in his cage by the living-room window, and that

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