The Lively Little Rabbit
Ariane ~ pics by Gustaf Tenggren ~ Golden Press, 1943
As far as Little Golden Books go, Gustaf may very well be the most famous artist, illustrating such classics as The Poky Little Puppy and The Tawny Scrawny Lion... not to mention being the chief illustrator on Walt Disney's very first feature film Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Looking at this book, it is easy to see his influence in all of Disney's early movies. Such a master, thus why I felt compelled to post a few extra pics this morning. (That owl just knocks me out!) Moving on... There is a wee little rabbit and his squirrel friend, see. And there is an evil, awful weasel who wants to eat them!
"Hello! What's the news?" said the lively little rabbit. "Oh, dear!" cried the little rabbits. "The mean old weasel came again this morning and ate our great grandmother on Daddy's side for breakfast!"
OH NO, NOT GREAT GRANDMOTHER ON DADDY'S SIDE! Ha.
This made the lively little rabbit very sad. "Something must be done," he said. "What?" said the other little rabbits.
"I think I know," said the wise squirrel. "We must give that weasel a terrible, terrible scare."
So, they and their woodland family and friends (including the owl who in real life is probably way more trouble to them than any old weasel) get together and come up with a genius plan... They build a faux dragon and scare the living daylights out of that mangy, nasty weasel. Whew. Great book. I love it when small, snugly creatures kick butt. Poor, stinky weasel.
(This is a reprint from 1982... the original cover can be seen here.)Also by:
Tenggren's Pirates, Ships and Sailors
We love this one, too...I wondered if it would be a little morbid for the younger set, but it doesn't seem to bother my son! Great group of stories!
ReplyDeletedepends on the personality of the kid I guess. my son used to watch an african documentary over and over again starting at 18 months and he was obsessed with "the kill"... he sometimes wants to play... "you be the zebra bones and I'll be the vulture." nice, right?
ReplyDeleteI remember this story as a kid myself. There was a recording of it done by, I think, a man named Paul Wing. He did a lot of recordings of children's stories for RCA Victor and this was one of them. We had another called "Peter Church Mouse." The thing my brother and I most liked about the recording of the Lively Little Rabbit was what the weasel said though:
ReplyDelete"I'm a mean old grumpy weasel and if I had my way I'd have rabbit me for breakfast every single day."
And then he laughed wickedly.
Yes bds43
ReplyDeleteBack in the mid 50's as a young little fellow, we had a record player and a record (45) that had that same story and when the "weasel" came on and said "I'm a mean old grumpy weasel and if I had my way, I'd have rabbit meat for breakfast, every single day!" I would be scared out of my pants. Especially when I heard that laugh. Oh boy, brings back memories. Wonder if that recording is on the net?
try http://www.kiddierecords.com/
ReplyDeletethey have lots of things free for download
Thanks, will do.
ReplyDelete