By Chuck O’Donnell, Special Writer
The newest star of the literary world doesn’t seem fazed about having the most intimate details of his life in Hillsborough divulged in a tell-all book.
His is a heartwarming tale. Discovered abandoned near a flower patch, he’s grown up to live a well-adjusted life. By all accounts, he’s smart, friendly, healthy and litter-trained. He even seems to wiggle his nose when he’s happy.
The love and companionship J.B. gives every day — even if he happens to get a little cranky if he doesn’t get a carrot in the morning — was one of things that inspired Casey Jo to write a book about her pet rabbit.
”The Bunny Rabbit in the Flower Garden” isn’t just a colorful, charming introduction for children to the responsibilities involved in caring for a rabbit, it tries to show them that pets like J.B. have unique personalities that make them part of your family.
”I know pets and animals have always made me a happier person,” said Ms. Jo, 25. “There were a couple of years in college when I wasn’t allowed to have pets, and it was just weird.”
What’s weirder is that’s where she found J.B.
While sitting outside on the William Paterson campus on a sunny September day in 2008, a friend spotted a rabbit nearby. As she recounts in “The Bunny Rabbit in the Flower Garden,” the rabbit was so friendly, it became apparent he had been someone’s pet and was just dumped on the campus grounds.
Ms. Jo left the rabbit there and went home, but tossed and turned all night. She couldn’t stop thinking about the rabbit’s “ill fate” as she put it. She returned to the same spot the next day and eventually found him in a patch of grass.
Caring for J.B. is fun — he even responds to some voice commands — but writing a book for kids wasn’t as easy as it seems.
Her mind was filled with questions. What age range should she write for? What’s the appropriate length? Would parents be reading this to their kids at bedtime? What words would kids understand?
”The hardest part of writing the book was the vocabulary,” Ms. Jo said. “It’s so easy for adults to just use certain words, but I always had to check to make sure certain words weren’t too advanced for our target demographic.”
She enlisted the help of her friend, Nicole Horr, who is a substitute teacher in the Hillsborough school district and will be student teaching in the spring at Auten Road Intermediate and Triangle Elementary schools.
”I was actually involved in the earlier stages,” Ms. Horr said. “When I was not sure what age group she was gearing it toward, I recommended that we ask the kids I watch and their local day care to give it a read. I knew she took my suggestion seriously when the next time I saw her, she had three rough copies of the book ready to go for the kids to read — illustrations and everything.”
Ms. Jo asked another friend, Ken Frederick, if he would illustrate the book. They shared a creative vision: The book should be colorful and the characters should be friendly.
”She and I made many revisions to the art and writing as the book developed,” Mr. Frederick said. “While I sometimes pushed for the book to be done sooner, her philosophy was always to make sure we took our time and made sure the book was the best quality possible.”
It was important the story incorporate not only her love of animals, but her passion for music, she said.
Ms. Jo, who majored in music management at William Paterson and works in the music licensing field, plays percussion and French horn and loves classical music.
In fact, Ms. Jo named her brown bunny after Johann Bach after considering other of her favorite musicians, Beethoven and Mozart. You’ll have to read the book to discover the unusual connection between J.B. and the 18th-century German composer.
”I was most impressed with the way Casey incorporated educational subject matter into the story,” Mr. Frederick said. “She worked in a little music history and talked a bit about how to care for a pet rabbit. I also liked her vocabulary choices. I think the writing style is very friendly and accessible, but challenging in a good way at the same time.”
For information about “The Bunny Rabbit in the Flower Garden,” log on to bunnyrabbitbook.com.

