Bun on the Run

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Smriti Halls, illustrated by Chris Jevons

Interest age: 3 to 8
Reading age: 7+

Published by Scholastic, 2024

Funny
Interactive
Picture books
Poetry and rhyme

About this book

Bernard the bun sits on a shiny white plate in a baker’s shop window – sugared and spiced and perfectly iced. But Bernard is no ordinary confection. While the doughnuts and cupcakes might be happy to spend their days in a display cabinet, he has places to go and people to see…

On his travels he meets a series of animals, each of which do their best to eat the plucky young bun for their tea! But, with a cry of, “You can’t catch me, I’m Bernard the bun!”, he manages to evade capture. When he is finally snapped up by a crow, Bernard must use all his beautifully baked brains to escape!

Two wonderfully talented creators have teamed up to create this incredibly engaging book. Halls’ rhyming text and Jevons’ bold illustrations work together in harmony and include lots of humorous details for readers to look out for.

Bernard’s adventure follows a similar structure to the traditional tale of The Gingerbread Man and features repeated refrains, rhymes, choruses, humour, predictions and jeopardy, which all encourage active participation and involvement from children.

A perfect choice for a shared reading experience and a book that can be revisited and retold multiple times.

About the author

Smriti Halls is an award-winning, critically acclaimed children's author, published in more than 30 languages worldwide. Her books include #1 bestseller I Love You Night and Day, I'm Sticking with You, Elephant in My Kitchen and The Little Island.

With a cast of characters as varied as mischievous monsters and disgruntled geese, she explores relationship and identity; the personal and the political; how it feels to be in your own skin - and in someone else's. Her books, often fast-paced and funny or lyrical and tender, are always full of heart and hope and speak to the child in all of us.

Smriti also creates bold board books to engage the very smallest readers, young fiction for newly independent readers and beautiful, highly illustrated non-fiction for older readers including the award-winning The Ways of the Wolf.

The Little Island is currently shortlisted for the 2020 Little Rebels Award and the 2020 Teach Primary Awards, while I'm Sticking With You was the Independent Bookshops Children's Book of the Month for August 2020. Her forthcoming picture book Rain Before Rainbows (illustrated by David Litchfield) has been made available ahead of publication in partnership with Save the Children as a free e-book to support their work with families most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Smriti works widely with children and adults in schools, libraries, festivals, bookshops and prisons to bring a love of reading and stories to the widest possible audience. She lives in London and is also published as Smriti Prasadam-Halls.

More books like this

I'm Sticking With You

by Smriti Halls, illustrated by Steve Small

4 to 6 years
The Smart Cookie

by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald

4 to 9 years
Best of All: The Magical Mix That’s You

by Smriti Halls, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat

4 to 6 years
Guess Who’s Going to Sleep

by Smriti Halls, illustrated by Marta Altes

2 to 4 years