One day a little country girl bunny with a brown
skin and a little cotton-ball of a tail said, “Some
day I shall grow up to be an Easter Bunny:–you
wait and see!”
Then all of the big white bunnies
who lived in
fine houses,
and the Jack Rabbits with long legs who can run so fast,
laughed at the little Cottontail and told her to go back to
the country and eat a carrot. But she said, “Wait and see!”
The little cottontail grows up into a wise, kind mama bunny who teaches her twenty-one (!) children to be self sufficient. When a spot on the Easter Bunny roster comes open, she is ready to fulfill her lifelong dream.
It is hard to believe this book was published in 1939. (It is the only children’s book by the author of Porgy and primary lyricist of Porgy and Bess; he wrote it for his daughter.) This charming take on the Easter bunny story (the Palace of Easter Eggs is always popular) and its demonstration of work/life balance feels very contemporary.
Author: DuBose Heyward
Illustrator: Marjorie Flack