Folklore Blog - Cashman

Rabbits Gift 

By: George Shannon and Laura Dronzek

Presented by: Nicole Cashman 

Summary of book - 

This book is a fable from China that teaches about sharing and how to be a good friend. The book starts off with a rabbit looking for food in the winter. The rabbit finds 2 turnips and takes them home. When he gets home, he starts to think about his friend donkey and wonders if donkey has enough to eat. Rabbit takes his turnip and hops to donkeys house to give him the turnip. Donkey was not home so rabbit left it at he door for him. Donkey comes home with food of his own and wonders who left him a turnip. Donkey then starts to think about his friend goat and wonders if he has enough to eat. Donkey decides he will take the turnip to goats house. The story repeats its self going from goat to deer and then from deer back to rabbit. At he end of the book when the turnip is given back to rabbit, rabbit decides that he knows what he should do with the turnip. Rabbit then takes the turnip to the woods, where all of his friends are, and shares the turnip with everyone. 

Setting - Winter

Characters - Rabbit, Donkey, Goat, Deer

Theme - Sharing

Pattern - A repeated pattern is used in the book with each character that comes into the book. 

Pictures - There were pictures that were used on every page of this book. Most of the pictures have a lot of the color white in them as the setting is during the winter while it is snowing. The illustrations in this book are paintings. The colors used are warm and inviting for children. 

Reader response questions - 

1. What pattern did you hear/see when reading this book?

2. What was the moral/lesson of this book?

Activities - 

1. Writing activity - What things would you share with your friends and why would you like to share this thing with them?

2. Classroom project - Using scissors, crayons, markers, construction paper, glitter, and other art materials, have the students work together as a whole class group and make a poster of different scenes from the book. This will teach working together and sharing (materials) to complete a project. 

3. Snack Share - First make sure there are no allergies and you get parent permission first. Have each student bring in a snack that they can share with a partner. This will teach sharing and also give students the opportunity to try new things. 

My Personal Thoughts - 

I thought that this book was a nice read. It had colorful and inviting illustration that followed the text and could also be used as a resource for a child that may not be able to read the words. I feel that the moral/lesson was good for younger aged students and is something that should be taught to every child. The book was easy to read and the vocabulary used was comprehendable enough  for students to understand. 

References - 

• "Rabbit's Gift," by G. Shannon & L. Dronzek - Books Read to Kids Aloud! (September 3, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXxgpdFnw7w