Customer Reviews

Rabbit's Gift

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George Shannon's Rabbit's Gift, a modern retelling of the "giving" fable, is a treat for readers and listeners of all ages. The spirit of the original story is cleverly revealed by the re-gifting of a turnip by well-intentioned community of animals. The classic unfolding of the story of the self-less generosity of these forest friends is a special treat to be shared.

Rabbit's Gift is a wonderful parable of the power of giving. Through the eyes of the adorable forest creatures so wonderfully illustrated by Laura Dronzek, the audience sees that while he is not responsible for the happiness of others, one's actions do deeply impact all those who come in contact with them.

In Rabbit's Gift, a new family tradition is born. The easy conversational writing style, the logical flow of the story, and the twist to the original story makes this book a new classic. Shannon does a marvelous job of telling a complex story in simple language that is meant to be shared.

Rabbit's Gift is the perfect gift; to share this book with the little listener is to give the gift of one's time. George Shannon has created a rich allegory that redefines the importance of giving to a whole new generation of readers and listeners. Rabbit's Gift, is that rare special treat that simply must be savored and shared.

Rabbit's Gift

This is a wonderful story about generosity. Our club bought this book to donate to various elementary schools in our area. Amazon was very quick to mail these out.

This is a wonderful picture book that shows the beauty of giving in a way that even the youngest of readers will appreciate. Based on an ancient folktale, which possibly originated in China, this story nestles its way into your heart leaving you with a warm feeling after you've closed the book.

The story begins with Rabbit in search of food on a cold and snowy day. He soon finds two turnips, and he rolls them home. As he nibbles away on one, his thoughts turn to his friend Donkey, and he wonders if she has enough to eat. So he pushes the turnip up the hill to Donkey's house and leaves it by the front door. As he leaves, his tracks are covered up by the falling snow. When donkey discovers the turnip, she realizes that she has enough to eat, but perhaps Goat doesn't, and she decides to bring the turnip to him. The story goes on like this, with each animal gifting the turnip to another animal friend. The turnip is eventually returned-full circle-to Rabbit, who knows exactly what to do with it. The last picture shows Rabbit, Donkey, Goat and Deer sharing the turnip.

The illustrations by Dronzek are simple and engaging. There's just enough detail so that even the youngest reader will be drawn to the page. One interesting thing she did is draw the Chinese symbol for each animal when they are first introduced.

But it's Shannon's telling of the story which is so pitch perfect. The language is refreshingly simple, making it a great read aloud. I can see that this will be one of those books that children will want to hear over and over and over again.

"Rabbit's Gift" is a retelling (by George Shannon) of a folktale that has been traced back to China, and other parts of the world, and is a simple yet wonderful story about the power of giving. Rabbit finds two turnips and decides to give one to his friend donkey out of a concern that donkey may not have enough food for the cold winter climate. When donkey finds the turnip outside her door, she feels that it would be best to give it to her friend goat since donkey has enough to eat. And the story goes on, with the turnip being re-gifted until the story comes full circle.

The color illustrations by artist Laura Dronzek capture these animals in all their simplicity and spirit of generosity. It is a great tale of giving that will delight young children, and makes for perfect reading aloud, especially as we near the season of giving (though of course, the spirit of giving should be practiced throughout the year).

This story of a rabbit, goat, deer, and donkey looking out for each other and giving each other the turnip in turn and ultimately sharing it is beautifully & simply told. The illustrations are also beautiful. My 3 year old son asks for this story over and over. He also likes talking about the Chinese characters for each of the animals which are included in the book.

We received this book as a gift and fell in love with the beautiful message. I order 3 at a time so it qualifies for free shipping and give it as a gift at my kids many birthday parties.

It's the beginning of winter and rabbit finds 2 turnips. Knowing he'll only need 1 turnip he takes one to a friends home. From the the turnip goes from friend to friend and ends back outside at rabbit's door. This is a very cute story and the illustrations are nice. They are done using acrylic paints.

What is also neat is that the illustrator includes the Chinese characters for each animal in the left side of each page. Chinese Characters are Rabbit,Donkey, Goat and Deer. And you can also search for the little yellow bird each time another animal friend moves the turnip to another friends home.

The author's note is interesting so I thought I'd pass it long to you.
"Rabbit's Gift is based on a folktale that has been shared for centuries. More than 25 years ago, I first discovered an English Translation of a German version that attributed the story to China. Since then I have found Japanese, French and Spanish retellings. Some of those translations credit Fang Yi-K'iun, but I have not been able to trace that source. The core narrative of the story has also been collected in Syria and Jordan. No doubt, like most folktales, this story exists among and beyond these cultured. Now, through this book, I share it with you.