The Runaway Bunny
By Margaret Wise Brown

(P.J. blogs at Tell It Again Tales.)

Ages 2+

The Runaway Bunny, written by Margaret Wise Brown (most famous for Goodnight Moon) and illustrated by Clement Hurd, is a sweet story that tells the tale of a little bunny's imaginative plans to run away. He will become a hidden crocus in a garden, a rock in a mountain and a fish, among other things.

For each of these plans, however, his mother has a "foiled-again" response -- she will become a gardener, a mountain climber, a fisherman, etc.

There is no plan too wild or far-reaching that this little bunny's mother will not come searching for him -- truly a story of unconditional, all-reaching, all-surviving love.

In the end, the little bunny decides he can stick it out with Mom since trying to run away would just be a waste of his time anyway, so Mom offers him a carrot and the deal is done.

This is not the sort of book that I would probably have picked up on my own. It was recommended by Edward Hallowell in his book The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness.

Webmaster's note: I think any book we're still talking about 66 years after publication has received classic children's literature status.

There is a similar story, this one a little less sweet but a bit more fun, about Baby Boo Boo, a little mouse who has a problem with his birth status among the meek and mild. Big Bad Bunny, written by Franny Billingsley and illustrated by G. Brian Karas, is another cute adventure in maternal love.

Read more of P.J.'s children's book reviews.

Best Children's Books home.