Good Books

Career & Cottontail Babies

Ivy F. DeShield, contributing editor

The campus of Princeton University is gorgeous in springtime! I recently enjoyed a wonderful spring break tour of Princeton’s prestigious halls of academia with my Upward Bound high school students and was also fortunate enough to catch an outdoor bargain book sale at one of my favorite shops along Nassau Street, Labyrinth Books (122 Nassau St. Princeton, NJ 08542). Intimate and aesthetically pleasing inside, Labyrinth understands the inner workings of the literary aficionado from its cozy reading nooks and crannies right down to its most recent eye-catching table display of one of Pablo Neruda’s love poetry collections. Labyrinth never fails to please, and once again, this quaint bookstore lived up to past experiences. I came away with several prized children’s literary works, including a beautifully illustrated large paperback copy of the 1939 classic, by Du Bose Heyward, “The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes”.

It was more than a pleasure to reread this lovely gem of a story that tells the sweet tale of a “little country girl bunny with a brown skin and a little cotton-ball of a tail” who dreams of growing up to be an Easter Bunny. As an aside, there are officially five Easter bunnies (don’t be alarmed; this was news to me on my initial reading as well). But as in most situations, things don’t always turn out as planned, and Lady Cottontail, now Mother Cottontail, finds herself several years later with a husband and twenty-one cottontail babies to rear. To most, her childhood dream would have seemed completely lost to time and circumstances, but Mother Cottontail surprises everyone, including “the big white bunnies who lived in fine houses and the Jack Rabbits with long legs who [could] run so fast” when she is named the “fifth Easter Bunny” by the old Grandfather Bunny at the Palace of Easter Eggs.

Very soon, Mother Cottontail is put to the ultimate test on Easter Eve when Grandfather asks her to deliver one of the loveliest eggs she has ever seen to a young, sick boy who lives atop a mountain peak in a tiny cottage. This journey will not just test her wisdom, kindness and swiftness (as all Easter bunnies are measured by), but it will also test Mother Cottontail’s bravery, as she must traverse over two rivers and three mountains to accomplish her task before Easter morning. Yet, as in all charmed lives, this wise, kind, swift and brave mother of twenty-one children, who has been named the fifth Easter Bunny (a credit to mothers everywhere), receives a special gift of tiny golden shoes with magical powers from Grandfather Bunny to help her complete her mission. And this, she does, with enough time spared to share a glorious Easter morning with her own children.

I hope you shared the same with your loved ones as I did and trust that you will gain a delightful burst of inspiration, wisdom and love from Mother Cottontail and her brood, nostalgically rendered in stunning Technicolor by illustrator, Marjorie Hack. Hack’s images beautifully awaken Heyward’s vintage children’s fantasy of perseverance, commitment and courage. But the most exceptional feature of this classic is its appeal to a modern day audience as the female bunny protagonist crosses economic, social and racial barriers to finally achieve her dream. At the core of this work, lays a very important message for children everywhere: stay committed to your dreams and watch them unfold one by one. As always, enjoy the read, and happy spring!