Spring has arrived to our little town. The other day my daughters and I spotted a Robin as we walked and I was reminded of how excited I would get as a little girl to spot my first Robin of the spring. The other animal that I equate with Spring is the rabbit. Or, bunny, as I prefer to call them. In the spirit of the bunny season I went to work finding all of the bunny books
Jim Arnosky's, beautiful picture book, Rabbits and Raindrops contains some of the most beautiful illustrations of rabbits that I have seen. Mother rabbit and her five little bunnies are out for their first exploration of the world when they find themselves in the middle of a warm spring rain. The rabbit family scurries back to their hedge and from there watches the rain and the other animals. The illustrations are splendid and colorful. A favorite spring read.
Last year my daughter who was then a Kindergartener brought home from school Bunny Day: Telling Time from Breakfast to Bedtime, written by Rick Walton and illustrated by Paige Miglio. In this book we join the Rabbit family on it's day. Each illustration shows a clock or watch incorporated into the illustration to show the time that the story is talking about. My daughter particularly enjoys the pictures of the bunnies in their jammies being brought downstairs for their breakfast. What I like about this book is that the bunny family goes about it's day together as a unit and not just Mother Rabbit doing this and Father Rabbit doing that.
Bunnies think that books are heaven.
Story time begins at seven.
One book, two books, three books, four.
"Please, please Father, read some more!"
The day ends with Mother Rabbit and Father Rabbit enjoying some tea together on the sofa after the little bunnies have been put to sleep.
Of course no anthology of bunny stories would be complete without mention of Beatrix Potter's rabbit stories. The illustrations of the various bunny families are what pull me in and captivate readers still today. Everyone knows the story of Peter Rabbit and his misadventures in Mr. McGregor's garden during the course of which he loses his coat and later returns to the scene of the crime in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve the lost articles of clothing only to get trapped for five hours underneath a basket with a cat on top. Luckily for the two young rabbits Benjimins father set out to look for his son and was able to rescue to the two bunnies before harm to come to them. Well, harm from Mr. McGregor or his cat.
When old Mr. Bunny had driven the cat into the greenhouse, he locked the door.
Then he came back to the basket and took out his son Benjamin by the ears, and whipped him with the little switch.
I must take a moment to put a plug in for the Beatrix Potter story that makes me laugh, it's the The Story of A Fierce Bad Rabbit. My profession deals with working with children with challenging behaviors and every now and then when I'm working with a particularly difficult child this story comes to mind.
One of my favorite Bunny stories, which happens to also be an Easter Bunny story is The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. Du Bose Heyward wrote this modern feminist story in 1939. It is the story of the single mother of 21 baby bunnies, Country Bunny Mr, and how she becomes one of the five Easter Bunnies.
One day a little country girl bunny with brown skin and a little cotton-ball of a tail said, "Some day I shall grow up to be an Easter Bunny: - you wait and see!"
Then all of the big white bunnies who lived in fine houses, and the Jack Rabbits with long legs who can run so fast, laughed at the little Cottontail and told her to go back to the country and eat a carrot. But she said "Wait and see!"
The illustrations in this book are charming by Marjorie Flack and compliment the wonderful tale with vibrant colors and wonderful little bunnies.
It is here that I take my leave from books intended for children. I'm a fan of children's books and I believe that even adults can find wisdom and knowlege between the page of a well written children's book. (Just look at A. A. milnes Winnie the Pooh stories and J M Barries Peter Pan).
A few years back a friend who was a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy books suggested that I read Watership Down by Richard Adams. This is one of a small group of books that I can actually remember the act of reading. Not the plot or the story but the physical act of reading. (One of the other books that I have this memory of the actual reading of was Anna Karenina by Tolstoy) I was a reluctant reader of a book about warrens of rabbits but I was soon drawn in to the wonderful tale. The rabbits in this book are fleeing the destruction of their home and the story becomes an story that mirrors the human condition. These rabbits are fighting to maintain a way of life and their life in general.
A rabbit has two ears; a rabbit has two eyes, two nostrils. Our two warrens ought to be like that. They ought to be together—not fighting. We ought to make other warrens between us—start one between here and Efrafa, with rabbits from both sides. You wouldn't lose by that, you'd gain. We both would. A lot of your rabbits are unhappy now and it's all you can do to control them, but with this plan you'd soon see a difference. Rabbits have enough enemies as it is. They ought not to make more among themselves. A mating between free, independent warrens—what do you say?
I've never looked at a rabbit the same way after reading this book.
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Comments: 22
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey?
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
Love bunnies! We have little cotton tails all over the place, this time of year.
About The Skin Horse: the horse first appears in Velveteen Rabbit, yes, but as an older, wiser toy that belonged to the father of VR's Boy. In his own story, we read about the ultimate demise of the toy and of the last child he keeps company with. It's even more bittersweet than VR, but perhaps suitable for a family that is recovering from a lost child.
You know yesterday, I saw my first robin of spring, and it was exciting. I was reading a book by my window , and happened to look up and see a robin perched on the edge of the balcony outside. Yay, spring!
This one was just published a year ago, but it's a great story: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo.
One time I was part of a literacy event where I read with a Spanish speaking lady. We both read Goodnight Moon side by side. She'd read in Spanish and i would read in English. It was great!