My Friend Rabbit

                       Written and illustrated by

                       Eric Rohman

              Caldecott Metal Winner - 2003

Rohman, E. (2002). My friend rabbit. Brookfield, CT:

The Millbrook Press.

EXPOSITION: A little mouse had a rabbit for a friend.  The problem is, whatever the rabbit goes, trouble just naturally seems to follow. 

CONFLICT: One day, Mouse is playing with his toy airplane when Rabbit asks if he can play with the plane too.  Mouse is worried that if he lets Rabbit play  with his plane, problems may arise; but he decides to do it anyway. 

RISING ACTION: Rabbit no sooner starts playing with mouse’s toy plane than he gets it stuck in a tall tree.  But Rabbit tells Mouse not to worry because, “I've got an idea.”

CLIMAX: Rabbit starts bringing over the biggest animals he can find and stacking them one on top of another so he can mouse can climb up on top of them and reach the plane stuck in the tree.  Rabbit stacks up an elephant, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, a bear and lots of other animals to make a giant pile.

FALLING ACTION: But just as Rabbit grasps the toy plane, the pile topples over, making all the animals very angry.  They are about to pounce on Rabbit, but Mouse puts him in the toy plane and flies him away from danger.

RESOLUTION: As they fly, the toy plane once again gets stuck in a tall tree.    But Rabbit tells Mouse not to worry because, “I've got an idea.” 

 WAS THIS A WELL-ILLUSTRATED BOOK?  Eric Rohman’s illustrations are a perfect compliment to his story.  Every picture is bright, funny and large enough to fill one or two full pages while telling parts of the story all by themselves.  They create cheerful mood that befits this charming story that adults can enjoy as much as children.  In this case, the old saying proves true that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” 

PICTURE SOURCES:

calliclarkjournal.blogspot.com

booksthatkidsenjoy.blogspot.com

chickorywoodproducts.com

en.gtwallpaper.com