Published by Beaming Books on October 8, 2024
Genres: Children's
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Conejo glowed like a whole universe of stars--until one day he didn't seem as bright as before.
In Conejo the bunny, Selena's found her best friend: he's cuddly, curious, and magical. He glows! But one day, Conejo's light begins to dim. Selena tries everything to bring back his glow, from covering Conejo with lights to giving him many, many pets . . . but nothing works. As Conejo's lights continue to flicker, Selena must prepare for when his light goes out entirely.
Through luminous illustrations, The Light in My Bunny offers a gentle look into the experience of pet loss, and comforts readers with the reminder that through love and memory, the light of our loved ones never goes out. Sensitive and humane, Selena and Conejo's story helps readers understand and process the grief of losing someone slowly--a much-needed angle in the grief resource space. The Light in My Bunny softly reminds young readers: You are not alone.
The Light in My Bunny is a gentle, touching story about dealing with death and how loved one can live on in our memory. Selena’s best friend is Conejo, a beautifully bunny who lights up the world with his radiant glow. The first part of the book takes readers into Selena and Conejo’s relationship, establishing their closeness, and setting up visually for what’s to come.
Nothing traumatic happens to Conejo (the name is Spanish for “rabbit,” by the way). He just gets old. Domesticated rabbits live 8-12 years, which is already way older than the 1-2 of wild rabbits. His light fades and fades. Selena tries different things to brighten him back up but, eventually, the light just goes out. There’s a heartbreakingly dark panel of Selena crying amid inky blackness with the sparse white text “until he softly faded away.”
I appreciate that The Light in My Bunny gives readers time to sit in the sadness of it all. Too often we try to rush to solutions. Author/illustrator Luna Vargas gives space for lament and even when a solution is offered, it is not offered in place of grief but rather as a way to process it. Selena recalls all the memories she made with Conejo. His light lives on in her. While not physically present, as the final panel reminds us, “the light of our loved ones lives through us.”
I’m usually the person who tries not to soften death. I don’t like terms such as “passed away,” or “gained their wings” or “attained their heavenly home” or any of the other euphemisms I’ve heard as a pastor. They died. And death, as a part of life, should be acknowledged. Despite that personal feeling, I don’t have any issues with the way death is presented here because the imagery of light is meant to be a symbol. Luna shows how the light of life in those we love—animal or human—can live on in us and how we are changed and moved by it.
The Light in My Bunny offers young ones a simple, understandable, and gentle way of processing death. It’s one of those books that will stay on my bookshelf for those times that are always unwanted but always inevitable.