The Country Bunny!!!

The Country Bunny & the Little Gold Shoes!

Remember?

Written by Du Bose Heyward, with art by Marjorie Flack, this is an Easter book I remember reading year round.

The country bunny attains the exalted position of Easter Bunny in spite of her responsibilities as the mother of twenty-one children. "It is difficult to believe that this very modern feminist tale was originally written in 1939. A gem of a fantasy in which kindness and cleverness win out over size and brawn."

The last time I visited my mom, I came home with a box of books for my boys. And there, at the bottom of the box, slightly torn, was the Country Bunny...

I remember loving her, this bumpkin. And the kind, wise, old grandfather rabbit. But most of all, I remember being the child, identifying with the sleeping child. I must have been really little when I read this...

Because I WANTED THAT EGG! I wanted to look inside.

It's worth saying that I'm Jewish (though with an interfaith background) and generally, I avoid having any Christian kiddie lit in my home (this would have to be a long complicated post in order for me to explain fully. Please understand...) But I made an exception for the Country Bunny.

Something about her vulnerability, her perserverence, her sweetness.

I think it's especially wonderful to think of this book coming out when it did, on the brink of WWII. To think that this book was read by all those kids being raised on the glory of strength, the justice of war. Guns and steel. MEN!

Because at bedtime, you need a mama bunny, a sweet voice, little gentle something soft.

Awwww...