PPBF: The Rabbit Listened

Book on display at Old Firehouse Books

In honor of Women’s History Month I will be focussing on outstanding books by female authors and illustrators. I reached out to the author/illustrator of today’s Perfect Picture Book pick, Cori Doerrfeld, and asked for the names of a few women she admires making their mark in children’s literature. Click to head to their websites! 

Jane Yolen

Kelly Barnhill

Raina Telgemeier

Thi Bui

Yasmeen Ismail

Jessica Gibson

Today’s pick is especially perfect: The Rabbit Listened

Author/Illustrator: Cori Doerrfeld
Publisher: Dial, 2018
Age: 3-6
Themes: listening, loss, rabbits

Opening: One day, Taylor decided to build something. Something new. Something special.

Summary: (from my library catalog) When Taylor’s block castle is destroyed, all the animals think they know just what to do, but only the rabbit quietly listens to how Taylor is feeling.

Why I like this book: The story is so simple, yet so powerful!! It’s an important lesson to learn for adults and children about what it means to truly listen when a friend is in need. I recently read an article by Swedish children’s book author Ingrid Olsson who wrote about comfort possibly being more important than love as a message in children’s books, and that books themselves can be a great comfort to readers. That certainly rang true for me, and this book is a whole heart example.

Resources/Activities: learn about meditation and/or breathing exercises; talk about what listening really means; practice listening with role play, ex.: pretend to be Rapunzel, and have another person practice listening to what she would like to say.

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.