''Beechwood Bunny Tales'' (french: La Famille Passiflore) is a series of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

written by French author

Geneviève Huriet Geneviève Huriet (b. August 24, 1927 in France) is the author of the '' Beechwood Bunny Tales'' (''La Famille Passiflore'') children's book series. Huriet lives in Paris with her diplomat husband and four children, and has travelled abroad in Jap ...

and illustrated by

Loïc Jouannigot Loïc Jouannigot (born 1953 in Brittany, FranceListe des auteurs BD 2005

. The original books have been published in France by

Éditions Milan Milan Presse is a publishing company based in Toulouse, France, that has been owned by Bayard Presse since 2004. It runs an imprint, Éditions Milan, which specialises in children's literature. This branch has published the original ''Beechwood B ...

since 1987. English translations of the first seven stories were released in the United States during 1991 and 1992 by

Gareth Stevens Gareth Stevens, Inc. is a publishing company originally based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1983 by its namesake owner. The company was owned by Weekly Reader Corporation, part of The Reader's Digest Association. In 2009, it was sold t ...

Publishers. Including this version, ''Beechwood'' has been translated into 23 languages in 19 countries,Bunnies bent on broadcast (Up Next: What's developing in kids production)
(2001, May 1). ''KidScreen Magazine''. Retrieved February 15, 2008. Registration required to read. and has sold about 750,000 copies in its native country.
at YoVideo. Retrieved March 19, 2008. The books centre on the Bellflower family of

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s, who live in Beechwood Grove: Papa

Bramble A bramble is any rough, tangled, prickly shrub, usually in the genus ''Rubus'', which grows blackberries, raspberries, or dewberries. "Bramble" is also used to describe other prickly shrubs, such as roses (''Rosa'' species). The fruits inclu ...

, Aunt

Zinnia ''Zinnia'' is a genus of plants of the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to scrub and dry grassland in an area stretching from the Southwestern United States to South America, with a centre of diversity in Mexico. ...

Dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

, Periwinkle, Violette,

Mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

, and

Poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, ''Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug opi ...

. Papa and Aunt share their names with foods, while their five children (and the family itself) are named after flowers. All of the rabbit characters in this series have large, round pink tails. The books' success in France led to the debut of an animated version on the TF1 network in late December 2001, Films d'animation (2001, December 23). ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' Television. Accessed January 11, 2008. which would go on to have 52 episodes produced. The show has aired in several markets worldwide, and released on DVD and VHS in North America.

Characters

The series' main characters are the Bellflower rabbits, who live "in a shady corner of Beechwood Grove". There are five children in the family: Poppy, the eldest and the smartest; Violette, the only sister; Dandelion, who mostly resembles his father; Mistletoe, who wears a cap and a shirt of magenta and pink stripes; and Periwinkle, who is kindhearted but mostly shy. Their father is Bramble, a gardener who is always concerned and caring about his children. Their aunt, Zinnia, can sometimes be a bit angry and serious against them. Most of the early titles in the ''Beechwood'' series centred on each of the children. Aunt Zinnia had a story of her own in 1990 (''Aunt Zinnia and the Ogre''), and Papa Bramble in 2003 (''L'invention d'Onésime Passiflore''). Some of the Bellflowers' foes include Magda, a tricky

magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

who tries to make Periwinkle a family embarrassment (in the first book, ''

Periwinkle at the Full Moon Ball ''Periwinkle at the Full Moon Ball'' (french: Le premier bal d'Agaric Passiflore) is the first book in the ''Beechwood Bunny Tales'' series. It was originally published by France's Éditions Milan in 1987, and in the United States by Gareth Steve ...

'', and the TV episode " Room to Move"); Jimmy Renard, a cunning young boy from ''

Violette's Daring Adventure ''Violette's Daring Adventure'' (french: Le défi de Pirouette Passiflore) is the sixth book in the ''Beechwood Bunny Tales'' series. It was originally published by France's Éditions Milan in 1991, and in the United States by Gareth Stevens a yea ...

''; Kazoar, the highway menace from ''Aunt Zinnia and the Ogre'', and two hungry & sneaky

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

named Roderick and Marmaduke from the episode "Carnival" who wanted to kidnap the children for their dinner.

Books

, more than thirty ''Beechwood'' books from Éditions Milan have sold over 750,000 copies in its native France. Geneviève Huriet has written the entire series, save for the two most recent titles (''Qu'as-tu fait, Mistouflet?'' and ''L'album photo des Passiflore'') by

Amélie Sarn Amélie Sarn-Cantin (born 4 March 1970) is a French author, comic book writer and translator. In 2006, she took over Geneviève Huriet's role as the author of the ''Beechwood Bunny Tales'' series, with ''Qu'as-tu fait, Mistouflet ?'' and ''L'al ...

. Loïc Jouannigot has always been the illustrator. In the United States, Gareth Stevens only published the first seven stories in English, from ''Periwinkle at the Full Moon Ball'' to ''

Family Moving Day ''Family Moving Day'' (french: La famille Passiflore déménage) is the seventh book in the ''Beechwood Bunny Tales'' series. It was published in 1992 by Éditions Milan in France, and Gareth Stevens in the United States. In the book, the Bellfl ...

'', in 1991 and 1992. The translators were MaryLee Knowlton, Amy Bauman and Patricia Lantier-Sampon. Elsewhere in Europe, the book series is called ''La Familia Pasaflor'' (Spain), ''A Família Passiflore'' (Portugal), ''La Famiglia Passiflora'' (Italy), ''De Familie Passiebloem'' (Netherlands), ''Familie Löwenzahn'' (Germany), ''Wesołe przygody królików'' (Poland), "Жили-были кролики" (Russia) and ''Tappancsmesék'' (Hungary).''Tappancsmesék''
at PORT.hu. Retrieved January 28, 2008.

Merchandise

*European toy company

Ravensburger Ravensburger AG is a German game and toy company, publishing house and market leader in the European jigsaw puzzle market. History The company was founded by Otto Robert Maier in Ravensburg, a town in Upper Swabia in southern Germany. He began ...

has made

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In th ...

s featuring Jouannigot's illustrations from the books.

TV series

''The Bellflower Bunnies'', an animated TV series based on the books, debuted on the TF1 network in France with four specials during December 24 and December 28, 2001. The 52-episode series was produced early in its run by TVA International,

Melusine Mélusine () or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also s ...

, TF1 and its subsidiary

Protécréa Protécréa is a subsidiary of French broadcaster TF1, based in Paris. Productions from the company include the animated ''The Adventures of Paddington Bear'' (1997), '' The Mysteries of Providence'', and '' The Bellflower Bunnies''and the 1990s C ...

. Later episodes were made by

Tooncan Tooncan was an animation studio based in Montreal, Quebec founded by Paul Cadieux.Thomas, Holly E. (2007, June 17)Children's DVDs: Small-Screen Summer ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved March 29, 2008. The company has worked on TF1's ''The Bellf ...

, Euro Visual, and Dragon Cartoon among others. It has also aired on

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Televis ...

in France,

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

and

KI.KA KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

in Germany, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC/Radio Canada in Quebec, and the Latin American version of Boomerang.

References

External links