Book Review: You're Finally Here! by Mélanie Watt

Readers find themselves enthusiastically welcomed by a mariachi-shaking, cartwheeling, ukulele-playing bunny. But excitement and relief over the long-awaited presence give way to exasperation over the inconsiderateness in not advising of the delays. The long-suffering, put-upon bunny indeed has cause for hurt feelings and reason for full disclosure. The wait-time is put to good use since it is sufficiently long to allow:

• collecting Uncle Vinnie-like dust bunnies;
• perfecting an accordion solo;
• retrieving a needle from a haystack; and
• witnessing a park bench’s new coat of green paint dry.

The procrastination likewise justifies the bunny’s quantifying the boredom in having to wait from simply bored to:

• very bored;
• very, very bored;
• very, very, very bored up to the ears. 

The bunny knows that apologetic explanations mitigate oversights as annoying, rude, and unfair as:

• being too old or young, too short or tall for something or somewhere;
• eating vegetables, especially Brussels sprouts;
• going to bed before feeling tired;
• hearing one song’s words over and over;
• joining last when teams are formed;
• leaving the facilities with toilet paper stuck to foot or shoe soles;
• making faces when someone’s back is turned;
• muddying carpets and floors;
• owning an itchy sweater;
• sticking gum on the undersides of furniture;
• talking while drinking or eating;
• training a pet rock.

But few interactions leave one feeling accountable to another for anything other than “I apologize!” or “I’m sorry!” Expectations therefore must be redefined. 

The gap between what goes around and what comes around initially narrows with the bunny getting contractually recompensed by the late but flea-less, page-turning reader committing to daily carrots and round-the-clock attendance. The bunny then opts for double standards by pursuing cellphone gossip with Vern and Aunt Beatrice.

So You’re Finally Here! provides culturally enriching, educationally entertaining adventures in manners in person and on the telephone to readers from pre-kindergarten to first grade aged 3 to 6 years thanks to:

• Mélanie Watt, author as well as illustrator and jacket artist and designer uniquely (and impressively) by way of the computer and therefore without her signature acrylic and charcoal pencil artistry; and
• Walt Disney – Hyperion Books for Children.  

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Mélanie Watt's bunny puts wait-time to good use with such endeavors as extricating a needle from a haystack.
University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England: James Lumb (Naughty Architect), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/james_lumb/3922753466/

Mélanie Watt's efficient bunny collects dust bunnies during wait-time.
Dustin "Dusty" Harry Ball; "Dust Bunny Large Enough To Have a Name"; Dyson survivor, January 2011; image date March 27, 2011: Kim Carpenter (KimCarpenter NJ), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_carpenter_nj/5565637381/

Mélanie Watt's bunny finds more and more ways to stay occupied during wait-time, such as training a pet rock.
Pet Rock packaging-carrier, designed in 1975 by Gary Ross Dahl (Dec. 18, 1936-March 23, 2015) for his Rock Bottom Productions: Hempdiddy, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PetRock_Box.jpg

Mélanie Watt's bunny engages in sticky habit of gumming the undersides of tables during wait-times.
gum gallery; Nassau Community College, Garden City, western Long Island, southeastern New York: Mars Infomage (marstheinfomage), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/marstheinfomage/280384580/

Among scenarios for learning manners that Mélanie Watt's bunny tackles is the unfortunately humorous duet of toilet paper with shoes.
red high heels, toilet paper; Muni (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency) awning, Mission District, San Francisco (2012): torbakhopper, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/gazeronly/7483106936/

Watt, Mélanie. 2011. You're Finally Here! New York, NY: Disney-Hyperion Books.