Cinder Rabbit News

Hello Imaginary Readers,
Hip-hop-hurrah! Please join me in some good news about Cinder Rabbit ...(Yes, it's for real)



Cinder Rabbit is included on a Mock Geisel Award Reading List at the Allen County Public Library. Take a look and if you've read Cinder Rabbit, please add to their comments section.

But wait, there's more...(including hoo-ing, ha-ing, belly-laughing, and the response of real children! I love hoo-ing, ha-ing, belly-laughing and the response of real children!)

Jules over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast did a round-up of "EmergingBeginningInterChapterMediateReaders" and she included her thoughts on Cinder. I'll quote her...

"Author Lynn E. Hazen, who writes for just about every age, brings us a new early chapter book, released in April from Henry Holt, entitled Cinder Rabbit. I can’t say that I’ve read this to a huge group of children (perhaps yet), but a certain four-year-old and almost-three-year old whom I know quite well (who happen to, uh, live with me) hoo’ed and ha’ed and belly-laughed (along with me) when I sat down and read this aloud to them — front to back, in one sitting.

It’s time for the spring play at Grand Rabbits School, and this year it’ll be a production of Cinder Rabbit. As fate will have it, Zoe is chosen to play the title role. But Zoe, who normally knows the ins and outs of hopping, seeing as how she’s a rabbit, suddenly can’t do so after hopping into a big mud puddle and getting teased by class-mate Winifred. Now that she’s been humiliated, she simply freezes up and no longer hops...There’s a lot of comedy here, and the story is sweet without being cloying. With a book like this, divided into short chapters, I can see the need for an “early chapter book” category; this seems perfectly appropriate for those children just graduating from beginning readers. Elyse Pastel’s illustrations bring Hazen’s cast of characters to life with style and oomph. A very fun read, a fitting choice for any child who’s ever felt stage fright or been the recipient of a bully’s taunts."

Read more about Cinder Rabbit and Jules' take on EmergingBeginningInterChapterMediateReaders

Still more! Booklist posted a positive review of Cinder Rabbit. See highlights below and some snippets of two previous reviews from Kirkus & SLJ that also make me hoppy!

First, from Booklist:

Advanced Review – Uncorrected Proof Issue: June 1, 2008

Zoe landed the lead role of “Cinder Rabbit” in her classroom’s spring play, which will be performed in less than a week. She is very excited until she learns that for the finale, she will have to lead the entire class in the bunny hop. Poor Zoe can’t bunny hop, a terrible thing for a young rabbit not to know, and she is terrified of what bully Winifred will say when she finds out...This simple, sweet beginning chapter book contains the right amount of story for children just starting to read longer books; and the charming black-and-white illustrations, decorating every page, will engage children in the story as they break up the text into easily manageable segments that will help youngsters feel successful.

— Shauna Yusko


Kirkus:
Zoe is ecstatic when she lands the lead in her school's spring play, Cinder Rabbit. That is, until she realizes that she will have to lead the other students in the Bunny Hop. Zoe hasn't been able to hop since Winifred laughed at her when she bounced into a mud puddle and fell. As the play approaches, Zoe feels increasingly anxious and, practice though she may, she can't get her hop back... On the night of the performance, despite her buoyant nature, Zoe freezes up until Prince Charming's amusing reenactment of a trip to town inspires her to leap above her fears. Plentifully illustrated with darling, expressive bunnies, this early chapter book lightly but effectively explores the consequences of bullying while extolling the virtues of perseverance. (Fiction. 6-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews

School Library Journal:
K-Gr 2-Zoe, a young bunny, is excited to have the role of Cinder Rabbit in her school's spring play. That is, until she learns that as the star she will be required to lead the class in the Bunny Hop. Zoe was quite a confident little hopper until an unfortunate mis-hop left her in a mud puddle with class bully Winifred laughing at her...This early chapter book is for any reader who has ever frozen in the face of pressure, or for those who face the taunts of a bully. It is sweet and fun, with bunny details liberally inserted throughout. Black-and-white illustrations on each spread expand on the characters-a bunny selected as the assistant director wears a bow tie, the teacher has a double-pierced ear, and Zoe's nemesis has a perpetual frown. Short chapters will allow beginning readers to finish in manageable segments, and the book's simple but consistent story arc will leave them cheering for Zoe's triumph in the end.-Heather M. Campbell, Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.



Wait, wait, there is more...And this might be the best.



I just got a nifty card from a young reader. How cool is that? I'm counting it as another "positive review." This particular young reader was one of the children who inspired me to create the story of Cinder Rabbit and the character of Charlie. Charlie is the truck-loving bunny who is assigned the role of Prince Charming Whiskers in the Grand Rabbits' School Play. Of course Charlie would rather be in a play about trucks!



For more details on my inspiration for Cinder Rabbit, free downloadable pdfs of a Cinder Rabbit discussion guide, a fun "How to Draw a Bunny" page by illustrator Elyse Pastel, and a podcast or two, hop on over to CinderRabbit.com.

Forecast: More hoo-ing, ha-ing, bunny hopping & belly-laughing, I hope.


(Cinder Rabbit illus's by Elyse Pastel)