The Country Bunny

I’m not sure if Du Bose Heyward wrote The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes for children, or for their mothers.

The Country Bunny is a sweet tale of a little girl bunny from the country who dreams of becoming one of the five Easter Bunnies. As a child, all the other bunnies laugh at her – she’s too small, from the country and cannot keep up with the fastest bunnies! There’s no way she could become one of the Easter Bunnies.

When she grows up, she marries and has a family – 21 Cottontail bunnies, to be exact.

All of her scoffers laugh more, and remind her there is no way she can fulfill her dream.

But Old Grandfather Bunny is not only looking for a swift bunny to be one of his five Easter Bunnies. He’s also looking for a kind, wise, and clever bunny.

The country bunny demonstrates that she has all four qualities Grandfather Bunny is looking for – and also demonstrates her courage.

This lovely story is rather long, with wonderful illustrations by Marjorie Flack (of Good Night, Moon fame), so I’d recommend reading it over several sessions – especially for younger listeners.

And if you are wondering if you could fulfill your dream, despite detours along the way, The Country Bunny shows us that sometimes the detours bring out character qualities which help us to do just that – even when they’re not on our original schedule.