Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover

In this adorable and funny book Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover, two friends set on a night of fun are put off-track when their plans go slightly awry. Rabbit invites his friend Robot to his house to sleepover, and plans a whole list of things to do like making pizza, playing Go Fish and watching TV. But when Robot wants to alter the plans slightly by wanting to play other games and eat other foods, Rabbit gets upset! After having a picnic instead of eating at the table, and taking a nap before going to bed, the two friends realize that even though their night didn't go exactly as planned they still had a very fun evening anyways!

Cece Bell, author and illustrator of this short chapter book, tells a story of a common occurrence that happens often between friends! I liked reading this book because it sends a great message to young readers that having fun with your friends doesn't have to go exactly as planned. Some friends like to do different things and like to eat things you might not, and after reading this book children might better understand that it can be fun doing things others like. I would use this book in an elementary classroom to help illustrate cause and effect or sequence of events. There are many events that happen because of a different action that Rabbit did not predict, and using this book to teach predictions and cause and effect would be very helpful to young readers. After reading the story, the teacher could pass out cards with pieces of the story on them. The students could put the events in order, and then talk about which events happened because of something else.

Bell, C. (2012). Rabbit & robot: The sleepover. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.