What to Know
- The Park Slope Public Library made the star of the “Knuffle Bunny” book series a permanent resident of the neighborhood with a bronze statue
- On Thursday, pint-sized fans of the story flooded in to see their furry friend come to life and meet the man behind this award-winning story
- The Knuffle Bunny statue was the finishing touch of a seven to eight year renovation project for the library
There are few Brooklyn natives as beloved -- or cute and cuddly -- as Knuffle Bunny, a Park Slope-based children’s book character created by former Park Sloper Mo Willems.
On Thursday, the Park Slope Public Library made the breakout star of the “Knuffle Bunny” book series a permanent resident of the neighborhood, unveiling an 18-inch bronze statue of the stuffed animal in their garden.
Willems wrote the inaugural book, “Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale,” 15 years ago when he was a young dad living in Park Slope.
He used the neighborhood as a backdrop to the story, in which a little girl loses her stuffed bunny at the local laundromat -- a few blocks away from the library -- and goes on an adventure with her parents to find it.
There was not an empty seat in the space as pint-sized fans of the story flooded in to see their furry friend come to life and meet the man behind this award-winning story.
Local
“The story takes place in Park Slope,” said Brooklyn Public Library president Linda Johnson. “So children all over the world read this book, but probably no kids are more passionate about it than the ones who are here.”
Johnson said her team has been renovating the library for the past seven to eight years, and the Knuffle Bunny statue made for the perfect finishing touch.
Willems kept the kids laughing by reading the book in the same silly fashion in which he wrote it. He said that while there is no big, obvious lesson in “Knuffle Bunny,” he hopes to show readers the excitement in everyday life.
“Little stories are important, and things that happen to you can be adventures,” Willems said. “It [the story] was something that really mattered to me. And I've learned that if a story means a lot to the writer, then it probably will matter to the audience.”
