The Lively Little Rabbit - Children's Picture Book

The Lively Little Rabbit. Way back in the woods lived a lively little rabbit. All day long he nibbled leaves and roots and played with his brothers and sisters. Most of the day they would slide down a big hill, and the lively little rabbit was always in front, the first one to reach the bottom. All the little rabbits would have had a wonderful time except for the weasel who lived in a hole in the forest. That old weasel was mean and grumpy and always pushing his sharp nose into everything. Besides, he was always ready to eat little rabbits for breakfast. So the lively little rabbit, who didn't want to be eaten for breakfast, was very careful to keep out of the weasel's way. So were his brothers and sisters. Whenever they saw the mean old Weasel coming, they jumped quickly into their hole and stayed there until it was safe to come out again. And the lively little Rabbit was always the first one down the hole. The Weasel was a very cunning weasel, too. One day, when the lively little Rabbit was alone in his hole, the Weasel wriggled down into it by the back door. For a minute, the lively little Rabbit thought he was going to be eaten for breakfast, but he was smart, and quick as a flash he jumped out of the front door and began to run as fast as he could. He ran and ran until he came to the end of the forest. There were big hills and roads going up and down and a little village. But the lively little rabbit only wanted his dinner. "Oh my!" he said. "I'm so hungry I could eat 200,000 million big carrots right now!" A red squirrel who lived with his family in a nearby tree heard this remark. In one glide and two jumps and three hops, he reached a garden and came back with a bunch of delicious carrots. "Oh, thank you, Red Squirrel," said the lively little rabbit, very pleased. "I love carrots. You are a friend indeed." After the rabbit had eaten all his carrots, he decided to spend the night with his new friend. At first, he thought it was a funny idea to sleep way up in a tree, but the Red Squirrel pushed and shoved him until they were both settled, snug and peaceful, high up in the tree under the stars. The next day, the lively little Rabbit tried and tried to remember his way home, but he could not. So the Red Squirrel brought him to the wise old Owl. As soon as it was dark, the Owl spread his wings in search of the Rabbit's home. In no time at all, the Owl had found it and he swooped down to tell the news to all the brothers and sisters. The little rabbits didn't have to wait long. "Here they come! Here they come!" they all cried at once. And sure enough, there came the owl flying close to the ground to show the way to the little lively rabbit who was hopping along just as fast as he could go. The red squirrel was hopping along too, He had come for a visit. Hello! What's the news? said the Lively Little Rabbit. Oh dear! cried the little rabbits. The mean old weasel came again this morning and ate our great-grandmother on Daddy's side for breakfast. This made the Lively Little Rabbit very sad. Something must be done, he said. What? said the other little rabbits. "I think I know," said the wise Squirrel. "We must give that Weasel a terrible, terrible scare!" And he told all the little Rabbits his plan. It was a wonderful idea! They were going to build a make-believe dragon out of leaves and twigs. They would all crawl inside to make it go, and the lively little Rabbit was to pretend to be the head. Early next morning they set to work, and the wise Squirrel fixed the lively little Rabbit up to make him look very fierce indeed. Soon the Dragon was ready. The Squirrel and the Rabbits looked at their work with pride. It was so very funny, especially when the Owl, who was hidden inside with the Rabbits, flapped his wings and shouted, Woo! Woo! What a wonderful dragon it was. Meanwhile, the mean old weasel was waking up for the day. He stretched and he yawned and he growled, and he said to himself, "Hmm, now what about breakfast?" But just as the mean old weasel came to the top of the hill, Up popped the make-believe dragon. It flapped its wings and wiggled its tail and shouted in a very loud voice, "Woo! Woo! Woo!" The weasel was terribly frightened. He was so scared that for a minute he couldn't move at all. Then he turned around and ran. He ran away so fast that he would still be running if he had not stumbled on a rock. But he did, and he rolled to the bottom of the hill. There he picked himself up and began to run away again. All day long, way back in the woods, the lively little Rabbit danced with his brothers and sisters and their friend, the wise Red Squirrel. Everyone was very happy. The sleepy Owl asked to be excused and went to bed.