{"id":7573,"date":"2022-12-27T23:44:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T23:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=7573"},"modified":"2022-12-27T23:45:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T23:45:22","slug":"rabbit-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/27\/rabbit-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbit Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Nature Perfected<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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A long-ago winner of the Newbery Medal, Rabbit Hill<\/em> deserves a place on our shelves and in our hearts.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Review by Sarah Clark
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One of my fondest memories of my mother, who passed away in 2019, is of her reading aloud to my brother and me every night before we went to sleep. She read one chapter every night without fail\u2014never more, never less. Over the years, she must have read us at least a hundred books.<\/p>

So last fall, when I got to the week in my pregnancy tracker that said, \u201cYour baby can hear and recognize your voice now\u2014you can read aloud to her,\u201d I started to do just that. Though I felt a bit silly reading aloud to my own stomach, and though I knew perfectly well I didn\u2019t need to read her children\u2019s books because she wouldn\u2019t know the difference, I started with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane<\/em>. Then Mr. Popper\u2019s Penguins<\/em>. Next, I read her Robert Lawson\u2019s Rabbit Hill<\/em>.<\/p>

I didn\u2019t remember much about Rabbit Hill <\/em>except that it had been one of my favorites around first grade. Rabbits were my favorite animal. It was first published in 1944 and won the Newberry Medal in 1945; newer editions leave out a minor character from the original, who is portrayed as a stereotype. The book is also beautifully illustrated by the author, so that while not a picture book, it provides plenty of visual interest for children following along while it\u2019s read aloud. \u00a0<\/p>

The story opens with a sense of anticipation: \u201cAll the Hill was boiling with excitement. On every side there rose a continual chattering and squeaking, whispering and whistling, as the Animals discussed the great news. Through it all could be heard again and again the words, \u2018New Folks coming.\u2019\u201d We are then introduced to the Rabbit family, Little Georgie (the youngest child and the only one still at home), Mother (a worrier), and Father (a gentleman). The New Folks in question are coming to inhabit the Big House at the top of the Hill, which in the good old days held a family of \u201cplanting Folks\u201d who maintained a large garden. Since they moved away, times have been hard, and finding enough food to put on the table has been a matter of great concern.<\/p>

Thus, the rumor of New Folks sets the Hill afire with speculation: what kind of Folks will they be? Will they provide a much-needed source of food for their Animal neighbors? Each of the inhabitants of the Hill has his or her own wishes, all the way from the Cutworms underground longing for fresh plant shoots to Gray Fox tired of venturing so far afield for a chicken to Phewie the skunk speculating on the quality of their \u201cgarbidge\u201d to the majestic Red Buck craving a nice, fresh tomato. But all of their anticipation is also tinged with fear. Will the New Folks also bring new dangers in the form of traps, guns, poison, and predatory domestic animals? This new bounty may also prove deadly for at least a few of them. But that\u2019s just life\u2014it\u2019s uncertain. It\u2019s the natural order of things.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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So many children\u2019s books seem to want to teach children the lesson that Real Life is full of loss and grief.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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By a few chapters in, I was expecting the book to contain its fair share of tragedy. So many children\u2019s books seem to want to teach children the lesson that Real Life is full of loss and grief\u2014whether Harry Potter<\/em>\u2013style, where a few beloved characters have to die just to prove it\u2019s serious for everyone else, or like Old Yeller<\/em> and Where the Red Fern Grows<\/em>, where the climax of the whole story is the loss of those we love. Bridge to Terabithia<\/em>. Tuck Everlasting<\/em>. The Yearling<\/em>. The list goes on. Rabbit Hill<\/em>\u2019s litany of possible dangers suggested to me that it might be aiming for a similar set of lessons. \u00a0<\/p>

At first, it\u2019s all good news: the field is plowed, the garden is expanded to double its former size, a new chicken coop is erected. Finally, the New Folks arrive, bringing with them no dogs and only one lazy cat called Mr. Muldoon, who responds to taunting by simply going back to sleep. When Father tests the manners of the New Folks by running in front of their car, they slam on the brakes, then put out a sign that reads, \u201cPlease drive carefully on account of small animals.\u201d They forbid the use of guns or poison, and the Man even instructs that the piece of stone wall over Porkey the Woodchuck\u2019s burrow be left alone when the rest of the wall is repaired.<\/p>

But then disaster strikes. Young Willie the mouse, sent to stand on the rain barrel and overhear what\u2019s to be planted in the garden, falls through a rotten place and into the water. He can\u2019t call loud enough for any of the other Animals to hear, and he\u2019s convinced it\u2019s the end. When Willie fails to report back, a search is instigated, and he\u2019s nowhere to be found. In his grief and rage, Willie\u2019s best friend Mole runs crazy tunnels all over the front lawn. But Willie is alright: the Man and the Lady have rescued him from the rain barrel, warmed and fed him, and then opened the door to set him free. The Man once again refuses to take action against Mole, and the lawn is simply rolled down again.<\/p>

I was now prepared for the other shoe to drop. And it does: while Little Georgie is out on an errand, a scream echoes over the Hill, followed by the roaring of a car. The Man and the Lady collect a little limp bundle from the road\u2014and \u201cBlack grief wrapped the Hill.\u201d Little Georgie was everyone\u2019s favorite, cheerful and willing and brave and smart. His parents are prostrated. No one has the heart to even celebrate the coming Midsummer\u2019s Eve, when the Animals will at last gather their shares from the garden. No matter how good and wise and generous the New Folks are, Real Life has struck at last. \u00a0<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In Christ, there is enough for all.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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But then, Willie catches sight of Little Georgie, his leg bound with sticks, resting in the Lady\u2019s lap with Mr. Muldoon washing his face. Most of the animals are relieved and happy, but a few suspect the Folks of holding Georgie hostage against the pillaging of the garden, and nasty quarrels begin to break out. Violent action against the garden and fields is contemplated, and \u201ca seething atmosphere of suspicion, fear, and general unpleasantness\u201d reigns over the Hill. Still, the Animals assemble on Midsummer\u2019s Eve. They don\u2019t know what to expect from the tarpaulin that the Man has erected. They don\u2019t know if Little Georgie is alive or dead.<\/p>

As the Animals approach, the Man and the Lady are sitting quietly. Little Georgie jumps down from the Lady\u2019s lap, calling for his mother and proclaiming that he is just fine. Then the tarpaulin is withdrawn, and Willie describes the sight for the blind Mole: \u201cOh Mole, it\u2019s so beautiful. It\u2019s him, Mole, it\u2019s him<\/em>\u2014the Good Saint!\u201d \u201cHim\u2014of Assisi?\u201d Mole replies. It is St. Francis, and from his hands flow a fountain, and about his feet are stone animals, and a feast is laid out there for each of the Animals who live on the Hill, with a message that Willie carefully reads out: \u201cThere\u2014is\u2014enough\u2014for\u2014all<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>

This, then, is the message of Rabbit Hill<\/em>: in Christ, we receive not what we expect, and not even what we most hope for, but more. Not the natural order of things, but all things made new. Not what we deserve, but an overflowing grace that offers, in the words of the Book of Common Prayer<\/em>, \u201cbetter things than we can desire or pray for.\u201d In Christ, there is enough for all. And so I will read this book to my daughter again and again as she grows. She\u2019ll learn about Real Life soon enough. I\u2019d like this message to be imprinted on her heart and mind as she does.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sarah Clark<\/strong> lives in New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. She is a founding editor of <\/em>Fare Forward and the current editor-in-chief, and she owns <\/em>Scale House Print Shop<\/em><\/a>, a letterpress printing studio. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2011 and received an MAR from Yale Divinity School in 2022.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Rabbit Hill<\/strong> was published by the Viking Press in 1944 and received the Newbery Medal for 1945. You can still purchase a copy from Puffin Modern Classics here<\/a>. <\/em>
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A long-ago winner of the Newbery Medal, Rabbit Hill deserves a place on our shelves and in our hearts. 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