Foolish Rabbit's Big Mistake

A nervous little rabbit hears a strange crashing sound and starts a nearly disastrous stampede of animals when he decides the earth must be breaking up

Kindergarten-Grade 3 A retelling of a Jataka precurser of Chicken Little and Henny Penny. A foolish rabbit under an apple tree dreams that the earth might breakup. When the predictable crash jars him from sleep, he assumes the worst and spreads his news throughout the jungle. Only a lion, viewing the consternation from a lofty resting place, interrupts the animals' flight towards a fatal precipice. The lion forcefully directs the animals to examine the facts of the matter, then prevents the animals from tearing the rabbit "to pieces" when they find out how gullible they have been. Suitable tone and economy of language reflect the author's storytelling experience, although his modern dialogue occasionally doesn't suit the story. Still, storytellers will be pleased to find that they can tell this moral tale of fear, gossip and forgiveness as written. Independent readers, and all the rest who like their stories with pictures, will be astonished by Young's illustrations. Van Gogh-like use of colors make the animals' frightful adrenalin level easy to believe: shadows may be purple or green or blue, but never just gray. The lion's paw stamped on the solid ground in emphasis and as proof that the earth is not breaking up fills a double spread. Ominous, murky shadows are balanced by phosphorescent color combinations which heighten dramatic tension. So effectively do they do this that the normal, naturalistic color palette used in the concluding picture of the first apple tranquilizes a little of the fear that we all carry with us. This dramatic presentation of a dramatic tale is recommended for all of us, grown or not, who have anything in common with the foolish rabbit. Dana Whitney Pinizzotto, The Parish Day School of the Church of the Transfiguration, Dallas
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Swirling shapes in hot colors emphasize the tensions in this fable and reveal another dimension of Young's painterly skills. The closeups of the lion's piercing eyes and great claws stand out among a series of remarkable scenes described by Martin, a renowned oral storyteller. He theorizes that the Jakatas of India influenced Aesop and other folklorists, that the foolish rabbit was the source for alarmist "Chicken-Little." A falling apple convinces the rabbit that the earth is breaking up and he puts the wind up all the other animals who run hysterically to a cliff where the king of beasts halts their leap to "safety." When he explains the foolish mistake, the panicked crowd wants to punish rabbit, but his majesty points out that the elephant, bear, snake and everyone else were just as silly to run without finding out whether there was something to fear.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.