Back in May when I was raking dead leaves off my flower garden, I uncovered a nest of baby rabbits. There was brief chaos: I wondered if I’d stepped on them or hurt them with the rake, it started raining, and my husband was on the phone and couldn’t immediately lend his more level head to the multi-aged feminine hysteria. A few minutes later, we’d picked them all up, ascertained that they weren’t hurt, put them in a box to raise — then changed our minds and put them all back, raking their comfy coverlet of leaves and rabbit hair back over them.
It was the beginning of a summer of watching over them. They’ve all come through to adulthood in one piece. One has sunned itself frequently in the yard; another hides under a pile of boards next door; the third got trapped in the garden one morning, and the girls and I cheered from the window as my husband tried to herd the little rocket back to the gate.
All this to say that we were an ideal audience for Rabbit Hill
The central happening in this tale is the arrival of new folks at an abandoned farm, and the speculation of all the animals about what they will be like. To everyone’s delight they are as generous and humane as can be. I know, thanks to this book, that the new folks in the big house are Lawson and his wife, whose Connecticut property was so inundated with rabbits that they called it Rabbit Hill.
It was a fun chapter book to read aloud, largely because the personalities of the animals are so vivid: Father Rabbit with his genteel and courtly speeches, Porky the woodchuck with his earthiness and poor grammar, Uncle Analdas with his penchant for the adjective “dingblasted.” It lends itself to high drama! For an animal tale that doesn’t make you cry, you can’t do better than this.
Can you believe I haven’t read this one? It sounds fantastic! I need a read-aloud that doesn’t elicit tears (mine!).
Mind if I like this post to Read Aloud Thursday?
I’ve actually got this one on my bedside TBR right now. Now I’m more eager to read it.
I cannot type.
That should read “link” instead of “like”. . . even though I do “like” this post!
Ooooh, good recovery!
Sure, go ahead and link me up! I just figured I was too late… We didn’t finish this book till this evening.
Oh, it’s never too late!
I forgot about this one! Thanks for the reminder, Janet.
I’d not heard of this, but it sounds fun. How neat it must have been to watch the rabbit family grow up! We see one cross our yard every now and then — we have something out there he likes to eat, but I think we’re only a fast-food provider on his way home.
We all love our fast-food!
What a great real-life tie-in to a book for you and your family!
I enjoyed this book as a child, and so have all my children. If you haven’t read it yet, you might also want to read the sequel, The Tough Winter.
This was a childhood favorite of mine. I just LOVE Lawson’s works. I agree with Laura, if you like Rabbit Hill you should try and track down a copy of The Tough Winter, the sequel. Also, it’s hard to find, but you should look for Mr. Wilmer. Another of Lawson’s books, it is likewise a great read-aloud for children. It’s the story about William Wilmer, an average man with an average life until his 29th birthday when he discovers he can speak and understand animals. It’s cute and funny and very entertaining.
I’ve never heard of William Wilmer. It sounds great! I’ll look for it.
[...] pussreboots (The Lighthouse the Cat and the Sea)38. pussreboots (The Case of the Climbing Cat)39. Janet @ Across the Page (Rabbit Hill)40. Zee @ Notes from the North (The Giver)41. Samantha (The Cross-Country Quilters)42. DebD (Kristen [...]