Foolish Rabbit's Big Mistake

by Rafe Martin

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

Genres: Picture Books, Folk Tales, Rabbits, Childrens, Buddhism

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 1985

About the author

Rafe Martin is an award-winning author and storyteller, as well as a lay Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani koan line. He is founding teacher of Endless Path Zendo, Rochester, NY.

He is the recipient of the prestigious Empire State Award for the body of his work, as well as multiple American Library Association Notable Book Awards and Parent's Choice Gold Awards. He has been featured at such storytelling events as the Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story, The Sierra Storytelling Festival, and the National Storytelling Festival. He is the father of two grown children and lives with his wife, Rose, in Rochester, NY.

Reviews

[Ashley]

This traditional fairy tale follows a similar story line to Chicken Little and it's mantra "The sky is falling!" to "The earth is breaking up!". Foolish rabbit, who is none too observant, makes an assumption about a sound he hears that leads to a barrage of frantic animals crying out in fear that the earth is breaking up and peril is on the horizon. This is a great message to adhere to, especially in the times of social media and "fake news", to never believe everything you hear and to check your sources. I like how Ed Young uses soft illustrations to convey the emotions of the animals in the story.

[Jeremy]

A traditional story about how fear and panic can easily spread from person to person, or in this case from one animal to another. The message is clear by the end of the text. Colorful, soft illustrations support the story.

[Summer]

IT WAS OK. BUT IT WONT LEMME READ IT! >:(

[Perrilyn Pringle]

The art is so dark. If you can't read, this is a horror book. That being said, a painted rabbit and other animals conveying emotion this clearly is impeccable.

[Christopher Clark]

While sleeping under a tree, a foolish rabbit is startled by a falling apple. He runs away screaming because he believes the earth is breaking up. Along the way, his creams pick up more animals, rabbits, bears, and elephants, who all believe his shouts. They all keep running until they meet a lion who is not so easily fooled. He drags the foolish rabbit back to the tree and shows him the apple. Foolish rabbit is so embarrassed that he apologizes and is eventually forgiven.

This is an unusual version of the traditional story of Chicken Little. It shows the problem with jumping to conclusions in a way can be understood by children. Colorful pictures of animals streaking through the forest and a fast paced story make it seem like the story is rushing towards its end. Children will enjoy the fast pace, beautiful colors, and unique telling of a familiar story, but from a different culture.

[Samantha]

Like Henny Penny, Rabbit mistakenly thinks the Earth is breaking up which gets all the other animals worked up. Brave Lion investigates the situation and figures out that a fallen apple was the cause of Rabbit's concerns. His advice for the other animals is that they should think for themselves instead of blindly believing what they are told.

The painted illustrations are superb, especially those including the brave lion and the final spread, which is frame-worthy in my humble opinion.

An author's note precedes the story and helps readers understand the origins of the story and the research the author did to prepare this version.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez]

This was another that my Mom read to Julia before bedtime last week. I don't have time to read it through right now so I'll be brief. Julia says it's a good book and from what I saw of the illustrations they're very different. I'd like to see more like this sometime.
Julia says it was average and not the best so I'll just give it three stars.

*Note to self* - check out again sometime to read with Julia maybe...

[Diana]

This Jataka tale is about rabbit causing a panic among the animals. He insists that "the earth is breaking up!" Wise old lion straightens everything out in the end and reminds the animals "next time something scares you...stop and see what it is," he asserts, "you may find out that there's nothing really to be afraid of at all." Yes, that is good advice for us all. It even (sometimes) works on children's bedtime fears.

[Chris Cherney]

This book was published in 1985. It is one of my favorite picture books. The illustrations are amazing and the repetitive text, "The earth is breaking up!" grabs kids attention and keeps it. This is a great fable that, in the end, teaches a valuable lesson on clarifying information. A worthwhile read!

[Michael]

This story is silly and yet a little anxiety-provoking, and the build-up just gets more and more dramatic until the conclusion. It is an instructional tale with bright, colorful, and active pictures. My chief complaint: eleven different animals and they are all male. Really?? Shame!

[Elizabeth]

2/19/13 Very similar to henny-penny

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 105438 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 3.2 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[Riegs]

Similar to Chicken Little or Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears.

[Sarah]

Text to text: Henny Penny

Lesson: don't jump to conclusions

from Jakarta

[Mae]

More appropriate for at least 4 year olds. my 3 year old seemed to get bored right away but the pictures were nice. I see how this book is related to the boy who cried wolf. Don't in my to conclusions.

[Little Champs]

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