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The Magic Rabbit
Award-winning artist Richard Jesse Watson presents a warm, funny story about a rabbit who finds many treasures inside his magic hat--but nothing that's better than a special friend to share them with.
One day, a magic rabbit hops out of a hat and discovers he can do tricks with it. He pulls out some juggling balls, a picnic, and even a car to drive, but there's no one to share in the fun. Rabbit needs a friend. He reaches into the hat for some new playmates, but the frogs hop off, the mice scurry away, and the birds flap up into the sky. But before Rabbit gets discouraged, he tries one more trick, and out pops another magic hat. Inside that he finds the perfect another magic rabbit, just like him! Magic tricks may be fun, but finding a friend is the best magic of all.
One day, a magic rabbit hops out of a hat and discovers he can do tricks with it. He pulls out some juggling balls, a picnic, and even a car to drive, but there's no one to share in the fun. Rabbit needs a friend. He reaches into the hat for some new playmates, but the frogs hop off, the mice scurry away, and the birds flap up into the sky. But before Rabbit gets discouraged, he tries one more trick, and out pops another magic hat. Inside that he finds the perfect another magic rabbit, just like him! Magic tricks may be fun, but finding a friend is the best magic of all.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 23, 2018
Magical illustrations. Yes. Look at the scarves, and the playing cards, and the dandelions. Magical words. Watch the frog as "it jump... jump... jumped away," the two mice who scurried, and the "flutter of birds" who flapped away. I love the endpapers of the night sky. I'm really not sure why this isn't better known & more widely avl., but if you can borrow a copy please do.
February 17, 2014
Gorgeous large oil paintings, and short story; suitable for story time.
April 4, 2019
Absolutely gorgeous illustrations push this one from 4 stars to 5 stars. A wonderfully told story of magic and friendship.
January 11, 2022
Storytime Themes: Rabbits (Easter), Animals, Friends, Magic
November 30, 2025
Beautiful illustration and story
December 30, 2011
The pictures in this book were fantastic. Really great.
I loved the rabbit hood ornament.
The story was good - about a magic rabbit with a hat. It seems he can pull anything out of that hat - anything but a friend.
My real question is, where did this magic rabbit come from? Was he created as a magic rabbit, or did he evolve into a magic rabbit?
If it's the former, who created the creator? Or, why didn't he create us all as magical beings?
If it's the latter, can we all hope to evolve into magical species? And what trick of nature allowed rabbits to be the species of choice? Should we as humans fear a rabbit uprising?
These are the kinds of tough questions that the book avoids - hence the three stars. If it addresses these in the sequel, I may bump it up to four, but I'd hesitate at giving it five. The concept scares me too much.
I loved the rabbit hood ornament.
The story was good - about a magic rabbit with a hat. It seems he can pull anything out of that hat - anything but a friend.
My real question is, where did this magic rabbit come from? Was he created as a magic rabbit, or did he evolve into a magic rabbit?
If it's the former, who created the creator? Or, why didn't he create us all as magical beings?
If it's the latter, can we all hope to evolve into magical species? And what trick of nature allowed rabbits to be the species of choice? Should we as humans fear a rabbit uprising?
These are the kinds of tough questions that the book avoids - hence the three stars. If it addresses these in the sequel, I may bump it up to four, but I'd hesitate at giving it five. The concept scares me too much.
November 20, 2013
Review:
The Magic Rabbit is wonderful!. The illustrations are bright and colorful. I would use this story to ask the kids if the story is fiction or nonfiction? What makes the story nonfiction? Why isn't it real? Also I would have the child do movements according to what each animal does in the story. I could use the story for prediction, what do you think is going to happen next? The story has rich vocabulary like, juggle, picnic, scurried, flutter, and presto. It is a great story about friendship.
Learning Experience:
I would make flannel pieces and have the children re-tell the story. I would also have them count the different animals. Are there any animals that are the same?
The Magic Rabbit is wonderful!. The illustrations are bright and colorful. I would use this story to ask the kids if the story is fiction or nonfiction? What makes the story nonfiction? Why isn't it real? Also I would have the child do movements according to what each animal does in the story. I could use the story for prediction, what do you think is going to happen next? The story has rich vocabulary like, juggle, picnic, scurried, flutter, and presto. It is a great story about friendship.
Learning Experience:
I would make flannel pieces and have the children re-tell the story. I would also have them count the different animals. Are there any animals that are the same?
January 11, 2013
I used this story in summer 2011 when I first started doing Spanish and bilingual story times. I used The Magic Rabbit for a hat-themed program for bilingual story time. In this book, the rabbit pulls out fun things from his magic hat. The best part is that at the end, he pulls out another rabbit to be his friend.
April 6, 2009
The Magic RAbbit was a great book. Throughout the story it explains how many wonderful things the rabbit can do with his hat. He made picnics, a race car, birds and much more; it really expands the imagination of kids.
September 22, 2016
Gorgeously illustrated book (check out the details in the rabbit's ears and eyes!) with a very sweet narrative. This would be wonderful for toddler or preschool storytimes, especially as it includes colors, counting, animals, etc. as well as an interesting narrative. Just a great picture book!
September 19, 2008
This is Audrey's favorite book right now. I think it is the pictures but she brings it to me all day long.
September 22, 2009
a nice, simple book about magic, hats and friendship. perfect for storytime.
January 30, 2010
Thanks for the recommendation Angie!
March 19, 2010
Bright beautiful pictures make this an ideal book for preschoolers. Short story about a rabbit looking for frienship through the animals that magically jump out of his magician's hat.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews