“Women are the real architects of society.”

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo was written as a parody of the book Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of the Vice President, a children’s book written by Charlotte Pence and illustrated by her mother, Karen Pence. John Oliver announced the book during a segment about then Vice President Mike Pence on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. Pence has staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ views, including advocating for banning marriage equality and overturning bans on conversion therapy, as well as his ties to Focus on the Family. Oliver said he was hoping to annoy Pence over the fact that proceeds from the book were being donated to The Trevor Project and AIDS United. 

Written by Last Week Tonight writer Jill Twiss, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo follows the titular bunny as he falls in love with Wesley, a male rabbit he meets in the White House garden.

EG Keller brings Marlon and Wesley to life with his sweet illustrations of the pair as they stand up against the stink bug and claim their right to get married. 

Intentionally published the day before the publication of the Pences’ book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo was an immediate success, selling 180,000 copies in the first two days. Beyond supporting worthy charities and making a statement, the book was widely praised for its sweet, simple message of equality. Katy Waldman said in a 2018 article for The New Yorker that “The Oliver parody is sincerely delightful–full of the attentive details and poetic grace notes that distinguish good children’s books.”

The audiobook, narrated by Jim Parsons, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, John Lithgow, and others, was also tremendously successful. Parsons, who voiced Marlon for the audiobook, said he was “…honored beyond belief to be a part of the audio book version of ‘A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,’ a children’s book with a story about tolerance and advocacy, dedicated to every bunny who has ever felt different.”

But not everyone was receptive. The book was the 2nd most challenged book in 2018 and 3rd in 2019, according to the ALA. #1 in both years was George by Alex Gino and #2 in 2019 was Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin. One critic calling for the book to be removed from libraries in Tahlequah, OK said “Girl bunnies marry boy bunnies. This is that way it has always been.” (Author note: This is most likely referring to II Bunnalations Chapter 2, verse 3 where it says that marriage is between one male rabbit and one female rabbit only, and that Trix are for kids.)

Jill Twiss and EG Keller have released two other children’s books. The Someone New is about Jitterbug, the chipmunk who doesn’t like change, who meets Pudding, the snail who’s been displaced by a storm and is searching for a new home. In Everyone Gets a Say, Jitterbug and Pudding return in a story about the importance of speaking up and using your voice.

In the world of children’s literature, few books have managed to be this adorable, this defiant, and this endearing. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is a great example of using one’s platform and voice to fight back. 

Additional Resources:

The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people in the US. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo eBook is available here with an $11.99 donation. 
AIDS United is an organization dedicated to ending the HIV epidemic in the US. Although links to download A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo seem to have been removed, you can donate to AIDS United here.