Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny Statue Joins Park Slope Library Garden

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The 18-inch bronze statue of children's book character Knuffle Bunny may have officially joined the Park Slope Library's garden on Thursday, but the famed rabbit isn't really new to the neighborhood.

The bunny statue — known from former Park Sloper Mo Willems' children's book "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale" — is a real-life version of the stuffed animal that the book's main character Trixie loses in a neighborhood laundromat just a few blocks from the library. Trixie and her parents go on a journey in the popular tale throughout Park Slope to find Knuffle Bunny again.

"Brooklyn is as much a character in the Knuffle Bunny books as Trixie, or mommy, or daddy," Willems told a crowd in the garden Thursday.

About 100 kids and parents eagerly greeted the storybook character replica for the first time Thursday morning after Willems performed a live reading of his book, which won the American Library Association Caldecott Honor.

The new bronze statue marks the end of a years-long campaign to bring Knuffle Bunny to the library's reading garden, which was built after winning the Councilman Brad Lander's Participatory Budgeting funds in 2016.

It was built by Park Sloper Chad Rimer, who said it took about four months to perfect the piece by starting with a clay sculpture and then finishing it in bronze.

The statue was especially a treat to make, he said, because his 6-year-old son Wade, like most Park Slope kids, is a huge Knuffle Bunny fan.

"It was small so I made it in our apartment," Rimer said. "He got to help me make it."

It was clear in Willems reading that most kids in the audience were familiar with the Park Slope story, which features the laundromat, P.S. 107 and Prospect Park.

(Anna Quinn/Patch)

Local mom Kate Papacosma said she probably had every word memorized after reading the storybook so many times to her daughter, Daphne Sacks. It was one of the now- 10-year-old's first books, Papacosma said.

Daphne and her friends 10-year-old Sophie Bynum and 7-year-old Stella Bynum said they were excited to Knuffle Bunny's character come to life Thursday.

"We read it a lot," Daphne said. "(The statue) was so cute."

The statue was funded by the family of Jane Bethge Lynch, who they said was an avid reader and lover of libraries. Calvert Wright Architecture provided pro bono architectural services and helped with the Landmarks Preservation Commission application process for the project, officials said.

The idea for the art piece started back in 2015 with the Friends of Park Slope Library.

"A library needs a community who loves it." Lander said about the group at the unveiling. "We could not have done it without this amazing friends group."