The Rabbit Story - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2-- A reissue of a pleasant cyclical story with fresh watercolor illustrations. The story of a wild rabbit's birth, early life, capture, domestication, return to the wild, and eventual motherhood is given the timeless feeling of changing seasons through Tresselt's prose. Changes in the text are minor and enhance clarity--for example, "she remembered the wild free life" is changed to "she felt a yearning for the wild free life." More realistic than Weisgard's brown-toned illustrations (Lothrop, 1957; o.p.), Ewing's paintings will have more immediate appeal to today's children. Her newly captured rabbit cowers in her hutch, while Weisgard's merely looks surprised. While there is certainly a plethora of rabbit stories available, few have as naturalistic an approach as this unpretentious story. Its very simplicity and almost soothing tone, however, may limit its use, as the book may be too quiet for most children. It would provide an excellent introduction to life cycles in elementary science, but may not achieve much popularity as either a read-along or a read-aloud unless children have a particular interest in rabbits. --Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ
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