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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

In the third volume about Trixie and her favorite stuffed toy, the now-famous Knuffle Bunny accompanies the family on a transnational plane ride to visit grandparents living in Holland. Trixie only realizes that something’s missing once she’s sitting in Oma’s garden: She left Knuffle Bunny on the airplane. The adults in Trixie’s world do the usual things adults do to try to console a child who’s lost a favorite thing: Her dad calls the airline (the plane has already left for China) and her Oma buys her a new stuffed rabbit (not even close). Eventually, it’s Trixie herself who is able to reach acceptance by imagining Knuffle Bunny as a world traveler visiting far-off places she can only dream of. Although the resolution (finding Knuffle Bunny in the seat pocket on the returning plane) stretches credulity, it’s a satisfying ending, with Trixie, realizing she can do without her toy, offering it to the crying child sitting behind them. Mo Willems uses the same illustrative technique—color cartoon drawings superimposed onto black-and-white photographic backgrounds—found in other books about Trixie and her cherished bunny. (Ages 3–6)

CCBC Choices 2011 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2011. Used with permission.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from September 13, 2010
In this poignant vacation-themed
conclusion to Willems's Knuffle Bunny series, Trixie accidentally forgets her
beloved stuffed toy on an international flight, as she travels from Brooklyn to Holland with her parents to visit her Dutch grandparents. Willems emphasizes the way Trixie handles the crisis with all the maturity she can muster: "Trixie tried to enjoy going to the café and the swings in the playground," but "he missed her Knuffle Bunny." Her knowing grandparents note "how big she was getting. Trixie understood. She was getting bigger. Even if she wished she wasn't." Willems's color caricatures, superimposed on grayscale photos, track Trixie's shifting moods and resolve, and a gatefold pictures Trixie's cathartic dream of the rabbit meeting other children worldwide. In the previous books, the prodigal Knuffle Bunny always returns, and Trixie always needs him. Here, a growing Trixie proves capable of letting go and, when the rabbit reappears, she chooses the terms of their good-bye. Willems's affectionate saga comes to a reassuring end, letting readers know they can release the treasured objects of childhood without losing their identities or their families' love. Ages 3—7.