Name of Book: The Runaway Bunny

Author: Margaret Wise Brown

Illustrator: Clement Hurd

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Audience: 3 – 7 years of age

Summary: The Runaway Bunny is the comforting and assuring account of a mother’s love and care.

Literary Elements at Work: The Runaway Bunny is Margaret Wise Brown’s realistic-fictional account of a mother’s assurance to her wayward tending bunny that he cannot escape her all encompassing love and care.  Told in a “what if” dialogical narrative, the Runaway Bunny explores the tension between a little bunny boy’s desire to runaway and his need for the assuring and steadfast love of his mother bunny.  Or, as I might say: the tension between our human want to go our own way and our need for safe boundaries and the assuring, comforting care and love of God.  Clement Hurd’s illustrations bring to life the height, depth, length, and width of a mother’s love.

Scripture:  Psalm 139: 7-12

Theology: We have been created by God for God; therefore, we are pursued by a love that will not let us go.  From the opening account in Genesis through the book of Revelation, God has been, and promises to create and re-create, redeem and transform, provide and sustain us, giving us the assurance that God is presently working in our now.

Faith Talk Questions:

In the story the Runaway Bunny, where does the little bunny try to hide?  (Let your child(ren) hold the book, or take turns holding the book, and find all the places the little bunny tried to hide).  What did his mother do?  (Again, let your child(ren) hold the book, or take turns holding the book, and find all the ways the mother bunny found her son).  Can we hide from God?  Could God find you under the bed?  Could God find you dressed in red?  Could God find you soaking in a bath?  Could God find you walking down a path?  Could God find you hiding in a tree?  Could God find you sailing on the sea?  Could God find you sitting on the moon?  Could God find you at 12 noon?  Can you think of places to hide?  (Let your child names all the places he or she would like to hide).  Could God find you there?

Review prepared by Kim Lee, MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2007

The Runaway Bunny by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.