Themed Reviews: Rabbits

My desk faces a large window, and throughout the year I get to observe the wildlife in the yard. Generally, this means very active birds, squirrels, and chipmunks, but occasionally I do spot a small fox and a few deer. Lately, I've been noticing several rabbits hopping around the plants. In this area when you spot a rabbit it is usually a pet in someone's home, so seeing these adorable creatures roaming around the neighborhood has been a pleasant treat and made me think about how many children's stories feature rabbits.

There are the classics like Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit, which seems to have a new edition every year; series like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit and Brer Rabbit; board book favorites Goodnight Moon, Pat the Bunny, and The Runaway Bunny; Easter books like The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes; everyone's favorite vampire bunny, Bunnicula; and the list goes on and on.

But stories with rabbits can be found in just as many children's books being published today. Some of my recent favorites are That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, and The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett. The below selections are fiction and nonfiction books featuring rabbits that have come out in the last couple of years. For more ideas search the CLCD database—try using delimiters such as publication date, ages, or fiction/nonfiction to narrow your results list.

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_rabbits.html

Duck! Rabbit!
Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

The argument of two unseen characters forms the basic text of this examination of the classic optical illusion of the head that can be a duck or a rabbit. Each commentator is certain of his position, with one pointing out the duck's bill and the other insisting, "Those are ears, silly." The central double-page image never changes, but objects may be added around it. On one page, a piece of bread appears on the left as the "duck prepares to eat it with its bill." On the next, the "rabbit" is about to eat a carrot on the right. On the following spread, "Quack" issues from the duck, while the other character hears the "rabbit sniff." Tall greenery next obscures the same creature, but is he wading through the swamp or hiding in the grass? Is he flying or hopping on the following pages? Is he cooling his ears or drinking? When the next double-page appears empty, each narrator accuses the other of scaring him away. Then they reconsider...until another debatable creature arrives. The very simple representations are framed and created with thick black ink lines, watercolors, and "a wee bit of colored pencil." They maintain the ambiguity reinforced by the arguing text. The reader is challenged to perceive both possible creatures while figuring out how they can co-exist. Clouds in nebulous shapes including duck and rabbit float across the end pages. Emphasizing the comic ambiguity, the back cover features the comment, "Hey, look! A zebra!" alongside an animal whose body is the bar code. Or is it a horse? 2009, Chronicle Books, $16.99. Ages 3 to 8. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
Awards, Honors, Prizes:
iParenting Media Award, 2009 Winner United States
National Parenting Publications Award, 2009 Gold Books For Preschoolers & Up United States
Parents' Choice Award, 2009 Silver Picture Books United States
ISBN: 9780811868655

Contributor: Emily Griffin