Here’s the thing about sheltering in place — my mind wanders. Not that my mind was a steel trap before the pandemic, but now I have time to contemplate stuff. For example, the other afternoon I was sitting outside enjoying the spring weather when three bunnies appeared in my yard (in my house they’re called bunnies not rabbits, an important distinction). They munched on the grass, scratched their ears and engaged in several rounds of what I call “zoomies” — chasing each other in short bursts then stopping and freezing in place. After one of these zoomie sessions, I looked up and saw that they were sitting about 10 feet away from each other making a perfect cottontail triangle. Were they practicing social distancing? Here’s another thing I wondered: Bunny zoomies are probably a part of the spring ritual that drives many species to parenthood, but could they also signify pure bunny joy while humans hunker down indoors? Does the rabbit network, by way of foot thumps and nose wriggles, provide updates to fellow buns about the pandemic and human behavior?
As you can see, my days have been filled with deep thoughts. And watching bunnies. I know that April is the big bunny month, but that train has left the station, so I’m going to pay tribute to my long-eared, zoomie-powered yard dwellers during the fine month of May. Books about bunnies are especially appealing to kids (and kids-at-heart), so the focus for today’s reading list is on children’s e-books. Peter is there, of course, as well as a bunny named Max, and hold on to your ears, a vampire rabbit named Bunnicula. Don’t worry, Bunnicula is harmless, but he will induce some grins and giggles.
Hoppy May, readers!
• “10 Hungry Rabbits: Counting and Color Concepts” by Anita Lobel.
• “Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow” by James Howe.
• “The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds” by Marisabina Russo.
• “I Am a Bunny” by Ole Risom and Richard Scarry.
• “Max’s Bunny Business” by Rosemary Wells.
• “Mr. and Mrs. Bunny – Detectives Extraordinare!” by Polly Horvath.
• “Rascally Rabbits!: And More True Stories of Animals Behaving Badly” by Aline Alexander Newman.
• “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter.
Jan Johnston is the collection development coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org.
