My Friend Rabbit

The Bibliography
Rohmann, Eric. 2002. My Friend Rabbit. Brookfield: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 0761315357

The Plot
Mouse's friend Rabbit is a pretty good friend, but whenever he's around, something crazy always happens. In My Friend Rabbit, Mouse gets a toy airplane and lets Rabbit play with it, too. Uh oh! The airplane gets stuck in a tree! Mouse knew something bad would happen, but, not to worry, because Rabbit has a plan. Rabbit gathers several more friends - an elephant, a rhinocerous, a hippopotamus, a deer, an alligator, a bear, a duck, some ducklings and a squirrel - and stacks them in a precarious pile. Of course, we all know what happens next. Mouse is on top of the pile just inches away from his plane when the pivoting pillar of pals topples to the ground. Luckily, Mouse boards the plane and flies down to rescue Rabbit from his angry cohorts, but wouldn't you know, they crash right back into that tree! Don't worry though, Rabbit has another plan ...

The Analysis
The illustrations in this Caldecott-winning book - heavily outlined, hand-colored woodcuts - tell a wonderful story that doesn't require words, but there are just a few anyway. The story is one of good friends playing well together and the illustrations really convey that with detailed, but cartoony at the same time, facial expressions. As a programmer, I more than likely wouldn't use this book just because there are so few words. Sitting one on one with a child and reading this book would be just fine because they could take in all the illustrations and see what happens on each page, but sharing it with a group of kids wouldn't quite work out so well. I think the majority of the excitement in my storytelling comes from my voices and inflection, so telling a story with only 75 or so words is not very exciting.

The Review
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
You can pretty much guess the story from the first page in My Friend Rabbit. The narrator, a small brown mouse, tells us that his friend Rabbit, "means well. But whatever he does, wherever he goes, trouble follows." After Rabbit launches mouse's airplane into a tree, he drags a cast of creatures ten times his size into a ridiculous pile. Then he mounts the animal mountain to retrieve mouse's plane. Unlike many Caldecotts, this year's award honors a book for young children. And Rohmann got it right in terms of this audience. Rabbit has the silly slapstick humor that young listeners find sublime. A three-year-old will giggle when rabbit hauls the huge elephant, or hoists the fat purple hippo. In this book of few words, the "trouble follows" line is repeated three times, giving young children a place to participate. In terms of illustration, the colored wood-block prints are simple, the backgrounds clear, and page layouts dramatize the story with interesting perspectives and compositions. You have to turn the book to view the climax, a vertical rendering of the pile of precariously balanced animals. The animals' faces lend a strong feeling tone. Thankfully, messages are buried in this book which accents humor instead of moral. But the pictures and words provide comfort for children viewed as troublesome, and offer a strong argument for sticking with colorful, unique playmates.

The Connection
Like I said before, I probably wouldn't use this book during storytime, just because it has so few words; however, if I were so inclined, I could perhaps use this book along with Lettice: The Flying Rabbit by Mandy Stanley and, what else? Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems and have a bunny-riding-in-an-airplane storytime. We could make little paper airplanes and little bunny puppets and launch them across the library. Sounds like fun, right?