What Small Rabbit Heard

Toddlers and parents everywhere will recognize Small Rabbit’s lack of enthusiasm as the story opens. He just doesn’t want to go for a walk and he comes up with all sorts of excuses to stay indoors. But Big Rabbit is having none of it. She bundles him into his coat and out they go, with Small Rabbit shivering and grumbling as he shuffles along. Perhaps it’s because he’s too far behind Big Rabbit, perhaps it’s because the wind is howling, but when Big Rabbit says, ‘Try to keep up!’ what Small Rabbit hears is ‘Jump in the mud!’ And so he does. In fact everything Big Rabbit says-thanks to the wind-turns from a rather humdrum instruction into something much more exciting and Small Rabbit finds himself having a really wild time. Becoming muddier by the moment, and causing more and more mayhem, Small Rabbit romps ahead. Big Rabbit’s last instruction, as Small Rabbit bounds home to their burrow is, ‘Please don’t go inside!’ (she’s worried about muddy footprints and leaves all over her lovely clean burrow).