Honey Bunnies

With spring bursting at the seams, dressed in gorgeous green, Clover’s buzzed to share stories of cottontails with velvet noses and fur as soft as a baby’s breath. April’s pleasurable Picks feature “Honey Bunnies” sure to delight and spark “can’t waits” for that reliable all-weather rabbit with a habit of hiding bounty in the most unlikely of places.

Here’s hoping young readers, their moms and dads, and gramps and grans, will enjoy Clover’s newest suggestions, a couple of tried and true winners with a newbie thrown in for good measure. Page On! Enjoy!

The Community Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Neighborhood Reads, and with support from its sponsors, provides these books at no cost to 37 schools in Washington, Union, Pacific, St. Clair and surrounding communities and to the Washington Public Library. Learn more at CommunityLiteracyFoundation.org.

Youngest Read

In 1922, a magical story flowed from the pen of writer Margery Williams. Since then, “The Velveteen Rabbit” has become as cherished as a snuggly blanky at bedtime. Find out how the old favorite came about in “Becoming Real: The True Story of the Velveteen Rabbit,” by Molly Golden.

Born in London, Williams constantly read books and wrote stories. Her father “… gave her imagination all the room it needed to leap and soar.” When he died, Williams’ world grew dark, as did her inspiration to create. Fortunately, with time, her imagination was reawakened.

In childhood and adulthood, Williams moved around the world, married and had children. She published books, one after another, but an ever present goal wouldn’t release its hold on Williams. She wanted to write “something different … but she did not know what that something could be.”

When Williams had children of her own, and was living in the United States she wrote “The Velveteen Rabbit” by observing her children’s playthings and recalling her own old toys. These became her adored characters.

“Becoming Real” is a must read graced with actual quotes from “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Airy, soft illustrations by Paola Escobar add a dreamy touch to the story of the beloved bunny’s beginning.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Middle Read

Clover challenges book lovers to read “The Velveteen Rabbit” without having a tear come to their eyes. This lovely story about a playroom bunny with a fervent dream is perfectly charming, though it was written more than 100 years ago. It’s the story of a brown and white spotted bunny stuffed with sawdust that a little boy receives in his stocking at Christmas.

The bunny is adorable, “fat and bunchy,” and becomes the boy’s favorite toy, one that was with him at playtime inside and out, and at bedtime too. More than anything the bunny wants to become real, a magical quality that the Skin Horse tells him, is “… a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL.”

Playroom magic does descend on the Velveteen Bunny, but when the boy grows seriously ill, the bunny’s dream of becoming real to the world is jeopardized in a beloved book with endless appeal, and earthy-toned, original paintings by William Nicholson.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Oldest Read

A handsome China rabbit is front and center in “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” by Kate DiCamillo, first published in 2006, and considered a classic by book lovers of all ages.

With it’s heartfelt story about changing personal traits to better oneself, and gorgeous museum-quality illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline, this favorite captured abundant awards and continues to be a book readers pull off the shelf for a reread.

Meet Edward and fall in love, though in the book’s opening pages this stuffy hero may seem a bit standoffish and full of himself. His mistress, 10-year-old Abilene Tulane, adores him, takes him everywhere, and makes him feel like he’s part of the family.

But Edward is conceited and shallow as he boards the Queen Mary for an ocean voyage. Off to London the Tulane family goes for the trip of a lifetime. But not for Edward. The bunny, clad in his fancy garb, shockingly goes overboard, straight into the swirling waves.

So begins a series of adventures as Edward falls in the hands of one owner after another, each very different—a life-changing odyssey that teaches Edward valuable lessons about being humble and learning the true meaning of friendship and love.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Written by Chris Stuckenschneider.

Copyright 2025, Community Literacy Foundation.