The Rabbit Listened

The Rabbit Listened is a picture book written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld. The colors are soothing to look at and the simple illustrations bring the characters to life. The story begins with Taylor a little boy who plans to build a grand project with his box of wooden blocks. He carefully works on assembling his special design and finishes in a proud moment. Suddenly a flock on black birds destroys his special creation leaving pieces of blocks strewn all over. We are met with a chicken who tries to help by trying to talk about what happened. The chicken leaves frustrated, and a bear shows up that tries to help Taylor work out his anger. Again, Taylor did not want help from the bear and we are continually met with various animals trying to help Taylor work through his loss. Each one of the animals that appears provides an emotional connection that Taylor is not willing to face. The last animal that shows up is a rabbit that says nothing other than providing comfort to Taylor. The rabbit listens to all of Taylor’s frustrations without saying a word and Taylor comes to the happy realization that he can rebuild something better.

Doerrfeld, C. (2018). The Rabbit Listened. Dial Books for Young Readers.