by Charlotte Zolotow; illus. by Maurice Sendak

HarperCollins, 1990 (originally published 1962)

image from wikipedia

This is the only other book I bought at Powell’s (I think I showed considerable restraint). I love finding Sendak books I haven’t seen before and I was familiar with Charlotte Zolotow’s name, if not the extent of her contributions to children’s literature (see this post from Anita Silvey’s* Children’s Book-A-Day Almanac for a glimpse of her impact).

My dad said when I bought it that he remembered reading it as a kid. From what I can tell, it remains Zolotow’s best-known book (though I had never heard of it prior to finding this copy). It won a Caldecott Honor in 1963, losing the medal to The Snowy Day (no arguments here). Not all Caldecott Honors have staying power (heck, not all Caldecott Medal winners have staying power), but Mr. Rabbit endures. Brain Pickings also has a great post about Zolotow, which quotes a letter from Ursula Nordstrom: “Sendak’s pictures are so lovely for your (untitled) book! Utterly different from anything he’s ever done — with a timeless, classic quality: You’ll be happy, I know. The little girl is so lovely, and the rabbit is funny, a good combination, I think.”

The illustrations, like the girl’s relationship with Mr. Rabbit, are friendly and charming. They are almost pastels, but warmer. Each is a full page on the right, facing and mirroring the structured text on the left. Mr. Rabbit reminds me a bit of the Baron from The Cat Returns, but without any of the sexual tension. The girl enlists the help of Mr. Rabbit to find her mother a birthday present. The little girl knows that her mother likes red, yellow, green, and blue, but as Mr. Rabbit points out, “You can’t give her red.” Each color is treated to a structurally similar questioning from Mr. Rabbit until the perfect gift is found. Children will find some of Mr. Rabbit’s suggestions quite funny, and will likely add their own.

I hesitated to tag this as an imaginary friend book, since it’s more than that. But I think that it explores the topic in a gentle way, without hammering anything. And, according to Anita Silvey, Zolotow had Harvey in mind when she created Mr. Rabbit.

*I had the honor of meeting Anita Silvey when she visited my Materials for Children class, taught by Dr. Barbara Immroth. Both of these extraordinary women do amazing things for children’s literature.