ALA Booklist

From the inviting jacket picturing three bunnies jumping on their beds to the last good-night line, the antics of these mischievous cuties will command repeated bedtime readings. After tucking in their little bunnies and saying good night, Mama and Daddy settle down to read. Soon, however, telltale sounds reveal that the bunnies are not in their beds. Click Clack: the bunnies are setting up train tracks on the floor. Clip Clop, Clip Clop: they are riding hobbyhorses. Zoom, Zoom: they are racing cars. Mama and Daddy are stern: No more tracks, no more trains, no more horses, no more cars. No more mischief! In the end, the bunnies still seem to have outsmarted their parents; but have they? The simple design, charmingly attired bunnies, and witty details (Mama is reading Hare Raising Stories)in the gouache illustrations add a cozy layer of warmth to this fresh, engaging take on a familiar scenario. The sound effects, rendered in large type, will inspire a chorus of giggles as well as plenty of participation. Good night; sleep tight.

Horn Book

The three bunnies in this book make Peter Rabbit look like a paragon of virtue. After they've been tucked in, they do everything from playing with trains to forming a marching band. The bunnies finally settle down after their parents are asleep. The lively gouache illustrations and cheerful sound effects make for an entertaining whole.

Kirkus Reviews

Russo's latest will have the parents of young children shaking their heads and smiling ruefully—and hoping to keep their tots in a crib. Mama and Daddy tuck in their triplets and go downstairs to unwind. But just when all is quiet, noises come from upstairs: "Sounds like the bunnies are not in their beds." Each exasperating foray to get them back into bed reveals yet another toy out, and the children busily engaged in pretend play. From trains and cowboys to cars and musical instruments, the bunnies are determined to keep on playing. Meanwhile, their parents have read, written their letters, had some cake and tea and gotten into bed themselves. This is just what the children were waiting for—now they have the run of the house. When sleep finally finds them, they are snuggled on the couch together. Russo's gouache artwork is brightly colored and pleasingly simple—long on homey details and facial expressions. Sure to spark laughter from both generations, this will find an audience with parents and children alike—and hopefully will not spark too much copycat behavior. (Picture book. 3-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In Russo's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Come Back, Hannah!) funny bedtime tale of escalating mischief, three rebellious bunnies try to outwit and outlast their parents. "Nighttime is here," coos the opening of the story. "Little bunnies are tucked in bed./ Good night, good night, sleep tight." But soon the sounds of "Click Clack, Click Clack" draw Mama and Daddy from their finally quiet living room to their offsprings' bedroom ("Sounds like the bunnies are not in their beds"). There they discover the long-eared little ones busily setting up their model trains. "No more tracks on the floor./ .../ Good night,/ good night,/ sleep tight," say the parent bunnies firmly. But the message doesn't sink in. Time and again, the grown-ups hear noises, climb the stairs and find their children engaged in ever-more elaborate activities; by the time the final admonition is given (the litany of forbidden behavior now takes up an entire page) the bunnies have assembled both a toy railroad and racetrack, concocted a raucous Wild West game, and even transformed themselves into a mini-marching band, complete with uniforms ("<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Boom, boom, boom!/ <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Honk, squonk, honk!/ <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Clash, clash, smash!"). Readers will probably respond with a fit of giggles—not only because the misbehavior comically spirals out of control, but also because Russo's crisply colored and calmly rendered vignettes make such an effective comic foil. Ages 3-7. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Jan.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-Three bunny siblings find much better things to do than go to sleep. Each time their parents look in on them, they are playing with cars or trains or pretending to be cowboys and even a marching band. Despite numerous warnings, the noisy little creatures just cannot stay in their beds. Finally the house is quiet, but when the youngsters creep down the hall and discover their parents fast asleep, they plan to play all night long. But soon a new noise is heard, the snoring of bunnies who have played themselves to sleep. A simple pattern moves this tale along. Mama and Daddy are trying to wind down for the evening with a bit of reading and some tea and carrot cake, but loud sounds from the bedroom send them repeatedly upstairs to admonish their children and put them back in bed. The colorful, folksy gouache illustrations bring real personality to the text with expressions of exasperation, amusement, and joy. The text is placed in and around the art and has a large, bold font to emphasize the raucous sounds of the little rabbits. Despite the winning illustrations, the tale seems a bit stale and overly long.-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.