Rabbit Hill

Name: Rabbit Hill
ISBN: 9787210088929

Robert Lawson / 程婧波Jiangxi People's Publishing House · ChinaDec 2021

4.4

Word count: 39K words
Chapters: 17
ISBN: 9787210088929

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Summary

Robert Lawson's illustrated story Rabbit Hill creates a complete, vivid, and thoroughly delightful world. "New folks are coming! A new family is moving into the Big House!" The little animals of Rabbit Hill wait excitedly for the newcomers to arrive, hoping something good is in store. Will the new neighbors bring dogs and mousetraps? Will there be mischievous boys? Will they tend their crops carefully? When everything is revealed, they may all be in for a big surprise.

Editor's review

Rabbit Hill is a classic work in which Robert Lawson displays both his writing and illustrating gifts, and Cheng Jingbo's translation preserves the original's brisk, humorous narrative pace laced with suspense. Centered on the small animals of Rabbit Hill awaiting their new neighbors, the story renders the psychological shifts from curiosity to wariness to tentative trust in clearly layered stages: children can read it as adventure and lively bustle, while adults can read it as a gentle fable about prejudice, goodwill, and living together. The illustrations and text complement each other, creating strong visual presence, and the book works well as a bridge from picture books to slightly longer full-length reading. As you read, pay attention to how each of the animals' "guesses" is corrected by fact—this both drives the plot and offers the richest material for discussion with a child. For shared reading, you can open a conversation around "are the new neighbors really scary?" and guide the child to notice the difference between first impressions and firsthand observation. Overall, this is an excellent children's literature title with a brisk pace and a warm aftertaste, well suited to repeated reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Lower- to middle-grade primary school students moving from picture books to text-based reading
Young readers who enjoy animal stories and are drawn to suspense and adventure
Parents who want to discuss trust, prejudice, and neighborly relations with their children
Primary school teachers who can use it as a class shared-reading text
Readers who enjoy classics that balance illustration and text in clean, attractive editions

Not a good fit for

Adult literary readers seeking complex social issues and deep psychological portrayal
Readers hoping for a large amount of popular science or hard facts about animal behavior
Very young children still at the beginning of literacy who cannot yet follow long sentences
Readers who prefer fast-paced, high-conflict plots and lack patience for gentle narration

Reading tips

Look at pictures first, then read: flip through the illustrations to guess the plot, then read the text to check your guesses.
Read chapter by chapter: read one or two chapters a day, then draw a "neighbor relationship map" of Rabbit Hill on paper.
Parent-child discussion: use the animals' guesses about the new family to talk about whether you have ever judged someone by appearance.
Look back at the beginning after finishing: identify which worries never came true and see how the story uses suspense to organize its narrative.

About the publisher

Jiangxi People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1951

Jiangxi People's Publishing House is a comprehensive local publisher based in Nanchang, with publishing directions covering philosophy and social sciences, politics and economics, history and culture, education, and the collation of ancient texts. Judging from its books in the database, the house offers Chinese translations of world classics such as Ulysses, Les Fleurs du mal, and Letter from an Unknown Woman, while continuing to publish Eastern philosophical classics including The Analects, the Dao De Jing, and the fully translated and annotated edition of Chuanxilu, forming a parallel structure of Chinese and foreign literary and intellectual classics. Translators such as Xiao Qian, Wen Jieruo, and Zhang Qiuhong support its foreign literature translations, while authors such as Confucius, Laozi, Wang Zengqi, and Hai Zi reflect its accumulation in traditional classics, prose and miscellany, and modern poetry. Its common categories include world classics, Eastern philosophy, prose and miscellany, literature, foreign literature, and modern poetry, showing a publishing character that balances academic popularization with general reading.

版权信息
引子
1 新邻居要来啦
2 兔妈妈的烦恼
3 小乔治之歌
4 阿那达斯叔公
5 顽固的波奇
6 搬家卡车
7 书呆子
8 威利的悲惨一夜
9 分食之夜
10 兔子坡上笼阴云
11 剑拔弩张
12 人人有份
作者
译者
编者注

FAQ

What age is this book suitable for as independent reading?

It is generally suitable for lower- to middle-grade primary school children who can already finish short chapters on their own. If a child still recognizes relatively few characters, a parent can read along or take turns reading aloud. Age is not a hard standard; what matters is whether the child can follow the chapter narrative and stay interested.

Will the suspense in the story frighten children?

The suspense comes mainly from the animals' guesses about the new neighbors, and the tone mixes curiosity with tension rather than horror. Some sensitive children may worry on the animals' behalf; a parent can prompt, "Let's see what happens next," turning tension into anticipation.

What role do the illustrations play in the book?

The illustrations were created by the author and complement the text: they establish Rabbit Hill's setting and animal characters and also participate in the narrative rhythm, helping children understand relationships and scene changes. Reading the pictures is itself a path into the story.

What can we discuss with a child after reading?

You can build the discussion around three questions: Why were the animals worried about the new neighbors at first? How did their worries differ from the facts? If it were you, how would you get to know new neighbors? This extends naturally to trust, prejudice, and getting along with goodwill, which is more valuable than simply retelling the plot.

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About the author

Robert Lawson Author · American · 1892–1957

Robert Lawson (1892–1957) was an American children's author and illustrator, born in New York and died in Connecticut. He was recognized in both writing and illustration: he won the Caldecott Medal in 1941 for They Were Strong and Good and the Newbery Medal in 1945 for Rabbit Hill, making him one of the few creators to receive both major American children's book awards. His works also include Ben and Me, as well as The Adventures of LIver-Eye, Captain Kidd's Cat, The Tough Winter, and The Great Wheel, and he illustrated books such as The Story of Ferdinand and Mr. Popper's Penguins. His books often center on animals and adventure, with lively storytelling and close interplay between pictures and text, and are commonly regarded as classics of foreign children's literature.

程婧波 Author

Cheng Jingbo is a Chinese science fiction author. Public information about her is limited, and details such as her nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background remain unclear. The library currently holds three of her works: Rabbit Hill, The Inverted Sky, and the three-volume Brainstorming Science Fiction Short Stories. These titles are often categorized as foreign literature, science fiction, and premium fiction. Judging from the titles and categories, her writing leans toward science fiction short stories and imagination-driven narratives. She is skilled at creating suspense and a sense of wonder within compact lengths, with themes involving otherworldly settings and inverted spaces, and her language is brisk with a speculative edge. Although biographical material is insufficient, her works have entered the view of Chinese science fiction readers, attracted attention from genre literature audiences, and demonstrated continued exploration of science fiction ideas through the short-story collection format.