Small Ears, Big Heart, Big Dreams

Here’s a new non-human fantasy novel written and illustrated by Academy Award-winning animator (Incredibles 2) and director (Piper) Alan Barillaro: “When Bunns is born with small but perfectly functional rabbit ears, the warren is abuzz with auguries. Surely such short ears spell bad luck for the community. Sheltered in her family’s burrow, Bunns listens to the rhythm of her mother’s heartbeat — Thump, thump, thump — a song of home and belonging. Her father explains that unlike a rabbit’s words or thumping feet, a heartsong cannot lie. But the unknown world of the meadow, the sounds and smells above, call to Bunns. When at last she’s ready to brave the staring and whispering of neighbors who fear her because she’s different, and the disapproving elders who threaten to banish her family, she finds a world beyond the warren where myths and riddles, magic voyages, and important new friends await. Can the ‘bad omen bunny’ follow her own heartsong to a destiny — a wish — meant just for her?” Bunns Rabbit is available now from Penguin Random House.

image c. 2025 Penguin Random House