Although I was a little surprised that this book was named theCaldecott winner this year, the first time I read it to a class, Iunderstood why. Kindergartners and first graders absolutely LOVEit! They laughed out loud and covered their eyes as the animalstumbled to the ground. I enjoy it more every time I share it with agroup of students. It's first rate!
There are some books in the world that you can flip through inthe bookstore and get a pretty good idea of the plot andcharacters. Then there are books like "My Friend Rabbit". Roughly ayear ago I wanted to know what all the "My Friend Rabbit" fuss wasabout. I mean, this book was a 2003 Caldecott Award winner afterall. I wanted to see why. So I went to my local independentbookstore and flipped through it. I flipped and flipped and wasbaffled by the heaping helpfuls of praise it had received. Myhaphazard flipping didn't reveal anything particularly interestingor original in the story. Fast forward a year and I've finallytaken the time to sit down and read, "My Friend Rabbit" in itsentirety (a process which took me all of 93 seconds). Suddenly Iunderstood why it was so beloved. Though an incredibly simple plot,story, and set of characters, "My Friend Rabbit" is a remarkablybeautiful tale of two woodland creatures and their plane relatedmisadventures. It's simple in words and complex invisuals.
