4
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JULY 7, 2019
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
More than 150 Brooklyn
bookworms flocked
to Park Slope Library
on June 27 to celebrate
the unveiling of a bronze
shrine of the famed literary
rabbit “Knuffle
Bunny.”
The carrot-chomping
character is the brainchild
of Park Slope native
Mo Willems, who
first debuted the bunny
in his 2004 picture book
“Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary
Tale.” The book
tells the tale of a griefstricken
little girl named
Trixie who traumatically
loses Knuffle Bunny —
her stuffed animal best
friend — which forces her
parents on a heroic mission
through Park Slope
to rescue the toy.
The legend of Knuffle
Bunny developed a cultlike
following in the years
since its original debut —
spawning two sequels, a
musical, and an animated
short film.
Willems said the
erection of the statue
represents the physical
enshrinement of the
heartwarming message
behind the Knuffle Bunny
tales.
“The Knuffle Bunny
books were created as
an ode to the small stories
that are the building
blocks of a family’s grand
narrative and to the idea
of Brooklyn,” said Willems.
“That these small
stories have now become a
physical part of Brooklyn
is an honor that cannot be
expressed in words.”
The 18-inch bronze
monument — sculpted
into Knuffle Bunny’s likeness
by Chad Rimer —
now permanently resides
on a stone bench in the
Reading Circle and Storytelling
Garden outside the
library at 431 Sixth Ave.,
ensuring that no more
children will lose Knuffle
Bunny again.
Rimer — a fellow
Sloper — said the chance
to sculpt such a classic
Brooklyn-centric literary
icon for his local library
was an opportunity he
could not pass up.
“It was very meaningful
to have the opportunity
to sculpt Mo Willems’
Knuffle Bunny for
my local public library,
and an honor to contribute
artwork to my community,”
he said. “It was
also immensely fun bringing
the Knuffle Bunny off
the page and into bronze,
where little and big book
lovers alike can sit with
it, read it, touch it, and let
their imaginations take
flight.”
REVILED: The Park Slope Library unveiled the 18-inch bronze Knuffl e Bunny statue in the outdoor
garden. Photo by Caroline Ourso
Willems used the unveiling
ceremony to read
to assembled children in
the garden, who followed
along with the author as
he performed a dramatic
performance of the statue’s
namesake work of
fiction.
The bronze-bunny’s installation
marks the end
of a years long fight to get
the monument installed,
as library reps fought to
secure adequate funding
and approval from the
city’s Public Design and
Landmarks Preservation
Commission.
Community Board 6 —
the civic group overseeing
Park Slope — voted
unanimously in May 2018
to send a recommendation
to the commission to approve
the bunny-shrine.
Once city design gurus
gave the green light, the library
secured funds from
the family of Jane Bethge
Lynch, which donated the
estimated $6,000 to cover
the cost of the statue.
Famed Knuffl e Bunny
hops into Park Slope