Rating: 
Summary: Recommend
Review: The Runaway Bunny is a really good book about a nice baby rabbit who hides from his mother. His mother always finds him but he always hides in a different spot until he gets tired and goes to bed with his mommy. Even though I am 8 years old now, I can still remember the book. My favourite part is when he's the fish.
Rating:
Summary: A HEARTWARMING CLASSIC TO BE SHARED FOR GENERATIONS
Review: This delightful tale of a little bunny who wants to run away; imaginatively so, finds his mother earnestly seeking him with each clever attempt of disguising himself.<PB> The eloquent prose and charming artwork adorning the pages of this classic story portray the steadfastness and strength of a mother's love for her child. <PB>A book to cherish for generations and to assure and nourish the souls of our children.<PB> This welcome, endearing addition to the bookshelf is sure to be delighted upon again and again, and prized for it's testament of a timeless bond between mother and child.
Rating:
Summary: A Childhood Classic!
Review: As a child, this was my personal favorite. This story relates to the child, that a mother's love has no boundaries. This book gives young children a sense of security in knowing that you are loved no matter what you do or where you go. The illustrations in this book add to its wonder, as the child hunts for the runaway bunny on every page. I had the opportunity to read this book to children at a daycare where I worked last summer. They enjoyed it just as much today, as I did in my childhood. This is a must read for every mother and child!
Rating: 
Summary: The Classic Expression of Parental Love
Review: If there were a classic book to express a mother's love for her child, it would be this one. A little bunny announces to his mother that he plans to run away. "If you run away," his mother replies, "I will run after you. For you are my little bunny." The little bunny then tells his mother all the things he would do to escape her, and she counters with all the things she would do to get close to him again. He will turn into a fish and swim away from her; she will turn into a fisherman and catch him. He will become a rock on a high mountain; she will become a mountain climber and climb to where he is. Finally, he decides that if his mother is willing to go to those lengths to stay close to him, he might as well stay where he is. What I like most about this book is that the mother doesn't try to change her little bunny into what she wants him to be. Instead, she changes herself. If he's going to be a bird, she's going to change into "a tree that you come home to." This book helps me remember that although my children may never be the children I thought I'd have (how did I get a daughter who hates pink ribbons and bows?), I can be the mother that they need, meeting them on their own terms. Another book that deals with this same theme in a funnier, but still sweet, way is "I Love You, Stinky Face," by Lisa McCourt. My children and I give Stinky Face a perfect 10!
Rating: 
Summary: no more wire hangers!
Review: many of the positive reviews for this book speak of reading it as a child, but let's remember that "nostalgia" means home sickness-again, homesickness--an aptly ironic phrase for "runaway bunny." this is one creepy book. i stopped reading it to my daughter (then about 2 years old) after three readings in a row of her shaking her head and moaning "nuh-uh" when the little boy bunny walks into a house wearing shorts. i'm not sure what upset her about that, to be honest, but she was sincere about it. new rule in our house: no more bunnies wearing shorts in houses while fleeing their deadpan, smothering mommies, or at least not until george a. romero has a go at a movie version. all the enthusiasm slathered on "runaway bunny" and its alleged message of parental love just outright skips the page where the loving, protective mother catches her son with a fishhook and net. a hook! is that a metaphor? "i love you like a fisherman casting for trout"? i mean really, a fishhook!
i agree with the other low raters that the mother is just plain unhealthy, denying her kid even the daydream of room and then pursuing him--in his own reveries, no less--with eerie, inventive determination. so what if she becomes wind and rocks and trees? those are lovely things in themselves, but when your mom becomes one to foil even your imagined liberty, she starts looking like those paintings in bad horror movies where the eyes in the portrait move. this is the sort of weird surveillance that makes the wicked witch wicked. also, the tree they live in looks like a heap of intestines, and though this book isn't as insipid as "goodnight moon," it is to such a heap that i would return it. i agree that "guess how much i love you" is a superior book about the same topic, and it doesn't turn love into a hopeless footrace against intrusive parental phatasms. anyway, in a couple weeks the "runaway bunny" lobby will have voted this this review into the "least helpful" pile, but (as many other reviewing parents have already attested) it will still express widely held views.
Rating:
Summary: Not beloved by our family
Review: Our young son never asks to have this one read to him. He is completely uninterested in the illustrations (both the color and the black and white ones) and the story always fails to hold his imagination. My husband and I find the story line of a controlling mother slightly disturbing (although in fairness, our son does not seem to pick up on that). If you are looking for a book from this author, I would suggest "Goodnight Moon" instead.
Rating:
Summary: I love this
Review: I think those who view this book as a treatise on a mother's smothering love are reading it waaaay too literally--and bringing their own "stuff" to the book.
I agree with those who pointed out that this book is written for young children (3-8) who are testing their wings and balancing a wish to escape from mommy with a healthy, emerging need to separate.
I hadn't read this to my 6 y.o. since she was three and pulled it out one night when she was VERY angry with me (I had the audacity to insist she go to bed;-)). I've always told her it's okay (and expected) that she will be angry with mommy from time to time, but that we could be angry and still love one another. As she lay in the bed with her angry, little back turned to me, I began to read. She slowly turned over and began to inch closer to me until she was snuggled next to me. It has become her favorite book and she insists on it at least five nights a week.
I think the book simply makes her feel safe. She LOVES the end when the bunny says "shucks" and the mother bunny gives him a carrot. I love that the book makes her feel loved and safe.
Rating:
Summary: There are much better books capturing HEALTHY parental love
Review: This book was received as a gift and there are certainly parents who love it. But I must say that my wife and I were creeped out when we read it to our two-year-old daughter, who didn't like it much either.
First question: WHY does the bunny want to run away from his mother so badly?? It soon becomes clear enough. She threatens to stalk him wherever he goes. There is little love or support expressed, instead it comes across as, "you'll never escape my clutches, no matter how hard you try." No wonder he keeps trying to get away.
A much healthier message would be, "I will always love and support you as you explore the world and develop your own identity." Those looking for a book conveying parental love could check out "Guess How Much I Love You" (although it does contain some competitive overtones). Those looking for a God allegory could try "You Are Special."
Rating:
Summary: Love this book!
Review: My girls ages 2 and 4 love this book. It is sending the message that a mother/father/loved one will always be there for them.
Rating:
Summary: While times change, a parent's love does not.
Review: This precious story is not about a mother's smothering abuse of authority as inferred in another's review. It is about the love that goes with your child, despite their choices, affirming their independence, and supporting their life. Our kids want to try their wings. A parent's love follows them through good times and bad. It speaks only to the constancy of that devotion.
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