My Friend Rabbit

Author/ Illustrator:  Eric Rohmann                       

http://www.ericrohmann.com/

About the Author:

Eric Rohmann was born in Riverside, Illinois in 1957.  He grew up in a suburb of Chicago. When he was a boy, he played Little League baseball, read comic books, and had a variety of collections, like, rocks/minerals, insects, leaves, and animal skulls.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: K-3

Synopsis:
This is a story about a rabbit that plays with his friend’s airplane and gets it stuck up in a tree.  He always has an idea for a solution, but that idea always turns out to be bad.   
Even though Rabbit’s ideas for a solution always turn out to be bad, his friend mouse knows that he means well and that he is his friend. 

Pre Reading Activity:

Questions:

Who has played with a new toy?  Who has played with a new toy of a friend’s? Who has let a friend play with a new toy of theirs?

Activity:

Have the class draw a picture of a new toy they let a friend play with that was theirs.

Post Reading Activity:

Questions:

What toy does Mouse let Rabbit play with?  What happens to the toy? Does Rabbit solve the problem?   Does mouse get upset?

Activity:

After reading the story, have students write two sentences to go with their picture they drew before they read the book, telling if something happened to their toy when their friend played with it.  Did their friend take good care of it, or did something bad happen to the toy?

Reflection:

I think this is a great story to share with young children showing them, even though a friend may do something to their toy, they might not mean for something bad to happen to it.  Not getting upset about it, knowing that accidents do happen can create a classroom where children are forgiving and understanding.  I think it is very important to not only model these behaviors but presenting through literature is a great way to allow children to make a connection between themselves and literature.