I found the most delightful modern day Bunny Tale, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by DuBose Heyward with pictures by Marjorie Hack. It's a story about a girl bunny that wants to be the "Easter Bunny" when she grows up. She instead becomes a wife and a mother to 21 bunnies and it looks like her dream may not come true. But she is smart and determined and you must read the book to find out what happens. Now, I said modern day tale, no....this book was published in 1939. It makes me so happy to know this book was available for children to read and think about at a time when some women were suppressed. Maybe this tale of bravery inspired the women that would soon "hold down the fort" here at home during World War ll. (And those women that went off to war, nurses, pilots and many other important jobs!)
(Edwin) DuBose Heyward wrote the 1925 novel Porgy which his wife adapted into the play Porgy and Bess. Which explains why this man wrote such an insightful children's book. He himself as a child and young man was sickly and spent much time ill in bed. At the age of 18 he contracted polio. He passed his time in his sickbed writing verses and stories. The Country Bunny was quite popular at the time it was published and I think holds up well for today's readers.
So, look for this book even if Easter has passed, its a GOOD READ!
BTW the Easter Bunny is a Hare not a rabbit. The Easter Bunny's origin was mentioned in print as early as 1620 and can be traced to the German fertility goddess Eostre.
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