RABBIT STORIES & FOLKLORE
(excerpts from posts)
(If you want to retell any of the stories listed below, be sure to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain)

1) And now that you've started me off, I can't HELP thinking of rabbit stories, that famous story of the Three Little Rabbits and the Big Bad Wolf, or Sleeping Bunny, or Bunerella, or Goldilocks and the Three BIG Rabbits.

2) Ooh, you just reminded me of our rendition of The Three Bunny Rabbits Bluff. We did it as a puppet play. The biggest bunny rabbit is . . . The Easter Bunny! And he carried an Easter Egg. The troll was pleased - a big bunny and an egg. As he came to get the egg, the egg opened up and swallowed the troll - like a Muppet does. The kids loved it.
Response: The answer to my prayers. I couldn't stop twiddling with the idea of Bunny Rabbits Gruff, but I just couldn't make it work. Bunny goats gruff, billy bunnies huff....Bluff! Of course! What else!
Response back: Oh, my. Late night goofs are so wonderful. Of course we did The Three Bunny Rabbits Gruff. Can't wait to see what the Bluff is like!

3) Once I was hired to tell stories to second graders. This was my first "gig" through the a particular Performing Arts Council for Children, so a representative of that organization was there to observe. I understood I was to tell for 45 -- 60 minutes; however, when I was introduced, the teacher told her students that because Easter was coming up I would be telling them rabbit stories.

There are many stories that could contain rabbits. Stories with mice as main characters became rabbit stories. Stories with animals in them included many more rabbits than before and the rabbits played very important roles. The tale of how rabbit got a short tale (the one where rabbit meets alligator) was a story I had read versions of, but never told before. It not only got told that day, but rabbit even made up a song right on the spot to get the attention of the alligator (I still needed to fill more time). I know I was amazed at the quantity of rabbit stories I could produce under stress. The teacher was very pleased. So was the arts council representative -- who was even more pleased and very impressed when she told me, "I didn't know you were planning to tell rabbit stories," and I replied, "Neither did I until I heard that introduction." So, my suggestion is that in addition to looking for rabbit stories, you may also want to look at your current repertoire to see what could be a rabbit story or a chick story or could happen in spring. Many stories truly are quite adaptable in that way.

4) There's a story about Rabbit losing his tail. And the same Bruchac book (Joseph Bruchac's Iroquois Stories, Heroes and Heroines, Monsters and Magic, Crossing Press, 1995) does have Rabbit in The Willow Tree where rabbit loses his tail, has his front legs shortened, and get his split lip all at once - it's not on the ice, but on his fall from the Willow Tree.

5) Rabbits Revered Around the World
Many Asian and Eurasian cultures revere the rabbit (or hare) as a sacred messenger of the Divine; to the Chinese, he is a creature in the moon, pounding rice (the staff of life) in a mortar.

To the followers of Buddhism the rabbit was placed in the moon as a result of his self-sacrifice in offering himself as food. In a second version, the rabbit cooks himself in Indra’s fire since he had no food to offer her and the deity placed him in the moon as a reward. To the Egyptians, the hare (as opposed to the rabbit) was known as un, which meant “to open,” or “the opener.” This was because the hare, unlike his cotton-tailed cousin, is born with his eyes open. “Un” also meant “period” as it was a symbol for both lunar and human cycles.

These traditions undoubtedly spread to the indigenous tribes of Western Europe much as the Indo- European language base developed through encounters between these two groups. This also blended well with Celtic tradition, which viewed the hare as a symbol of fertility and new life, and the Germanic tradition that the hare brought new life each spring.

Even in North America, the Rabbit/Hare is revered. To the Native American peoples, he was the Trickster/ Transformer who either plays the Fool or, in other instances, has brought about a benefit for humankind (i.e., the legend of Rabbit bringing fire to the people). The ancient Mayan culture gives Rabbit credit for inventing Mayan writing.

Just as the ancient sacred places and names were blended into the holiday celebration we know as Easter, so too was the Rabbit/Hare molded from an ancient bringer of new life and renewal to the Easter Bunny, a symbol of a holiday celebrating a resurrection. In truth, the Rabbit stays the same: a messenger of a season when all things are possible and all things can again be new.

6) The Rabbit's Story
A one-act play
Scene: It's a beautiful day in the forest; and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, typing away on his laptop. Along comes a fox, out for a walk.
Fox: What are you working on?
Rabbit: My dissertation to graduate from University.
Fox: Hmmm, what is it about?
Rabbit: Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes.
There is an incredulous pause.
Fox: Don't be ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes!
Rabbit: Oh, yeah? Come with me and I'll show you.
They both disappear in Rabbit's burrow. After a few minutes, rabbit emerges alone, gnawing on a fox bone. He resumes typing. After a while, along comes a wolf.
Wolf: What are you working on?
Rabbit: My dissertation to graduate from University.
Wolf: Hmmm, what is it about?
Rabbit: Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat wolves.
There is another incredulous pause.
Wolf: Don't be ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat wolves!
Rabbit: Oh, yeah? Come with me and I'll show you.
They both disappear in Rabbit's burrow. After a few minutes, rabbit emerges alone, gnawing on a wolf bone. He resumes typing. After a while, along comes a bear.
Bear: What are you working on?
Rabbit: My dissertation to graduate from University.
Bear: Hmmm, what is it about?
Rabbit: Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat bears.
There is an incredulous pause.
Bear: Don't be ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat bears!
Rabbit: Oh, yeah? Come with me and I'll show you.
Scene: Inside the rabbit's burrow. In one corner, there is a pile of fox bones. In another corner is a pile of wolf bones. In the third corner crouches a huge lion, belching and picking his teeth.
The Morals of the Story:
1. It doesn't matter what topic you choose for a dissertation
2. It doesn't matter what you use for your data
3. It doesn't even matter if your topic makes sense
4. All that really matters is WHO you have for a dissertation supervisor.

7) Rabbit story -- Taking a short walk today, I saw two boys chasing a baby bunny, which kept going under a car. As they were hitting around under the car, one boy using his cap, I said, "Don't hurt it" and they explained that they were chasing the cat that was trying to get the bunny. The poor baby would get scared of us and run under the car into the clutches of Smokey, a rather fierce, if small, female. Finally the bunny came into the grass, I bent over it with my arms around it protectively. One boy put it in his cap, and they went on in search of the nest. I told them they were heroes and that if they couldn't find it's home, there is a formula of milk, syrup, and 7-up I believe. They haven't come back for help, so I'm going to assume they got everything under control. It warms my heart to see tenderness and concern, even if it is "just a bunny."

8) One story that I love to tell is a Brer Rabbit story, adapted by Ed Stivender. It is called Hunny Bunny and you can find it in Ready To Tell Tales by Holt and Mooney.
Check out this site, lots of legends here, I have listed a few but there are more. BTW, this site is a treasure trove of stories for anyone who is interested in researching some Native American lore.
Native Lore: Ableegumooch, the Lazy Rabbit
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore23.html
Native Lore: Rabbit and Fox
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore40.html
NativeLore: How Rabbit Fooled Alligator
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore79.html
NativeLore: How Rabbit Fooled Wolf
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore87.html
NativeLore: How the Rabbit Lost His Tail
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore94.html
NativeLore:
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore61.html
New site, retold tale.
Animals, Myths and Legends - Rabbit the Hunter
http://www.planetozkids.com/oban/rabhunt.htm

9) There is a short and hauntingly beautiful story of the Bushmen people, The Rabbit and the Moon.
http://www.talesandmusic.de/tales/rabbit_moon.htm

10) I tell stories based on Watership Down by Richard Adams. If you haven't read this yet I strongly recommend you do. What I do is to tell the baseline of the Saga and then go to one or two stories of El Ahreira. stories the Rabbits tell to each other . I find Prince Bow carrots to be a very good stories to kids and adults. Rabbits are good for the soul. Another good sugestion for young - very young kids would be why Rabbits move their noses. So the lion will think they have the flu and won't be able to ask them about his breath smell. When he asked Bear and he told him the truth he ate Bear because he was insulting. When he asked Monkey and he lied, he ate him for lying, so Rabbit / Hare says he can't smell.... Ethiopia I think.
Response: There are many versions of the breath-test story, but this one is known from Burma. Maung Htin Aung's Rabbit Has A Cold (Burmese Folktales. Bombay: Oxford University Press 1948 I find that very young kids do NOT get the punchline, it's too indirect. But from about 8 yrs up it is appreciated.

11) My favorite on the above list is from Joseph Bruchac's Iroquois Stories, Heroes and Heroines, Monsters and Magic, Crossing Press, 1995). It's Rabbit in The Willow Tree where rabbit loses his tail, has his front legs shortened, and get his split lip all at once - it's not on the ice, but on his fall from the Willow Tree. Also in that book is another one I've started telling, Rabbit and Fox. Rabbit outwits Fox twice by running, hiding, and disgusing himself as old woman and medicine man with two feathers (ears) from the head. The last time rabbit actually hides behind a log with two real sticks jutting out. Fox "knows" that this must really be rabbit, and he eats the log thinking that maybe rabbits aren't very good tasting. Bruchac has wonderful tape with both of these and many others too.

12) My favorite rabbit tails...er tales are:
Zoma, the Rabbit (African collected and rewritten by Gerald McDermott)
Br'er Rabbit stories - The Tar Baby Sandy and the Toad Frawgs
Grandfather Christmas
Waiting For Spring by Bethany Roberts: The Wishing Star
Yoo-hoo, Spring!
I have also told The Gunniwolf using a rabbit puppet instead of a little girl.

13) My favorite two favorites are:
B'Whale and B'Elephant, found in More Ready to Tell Tales by Holt and Mooney. It is a Bahamian folktale adapted by Derek Burrows.
Also, Hunny Bunny, a Brer Rabbit tale adapted by Ed Stivender, found in Ready to Tell Tales by Holt and Mooney.

14) Brer Rabbit's Christmas (Traditional American Tale) Diane Goode's American Christmas; Scholastic; 1990. ISBN: 0-590-45446-3
One winter morning, when he knew Brer Rabbit wasn't home, Brer Fox stole into Brer Rabbit's garden. He helped himself to every last one of Brer Rabbit's carrots and left with his bag so full it was bursting at the seams. When Brer Rabbit got home and saw his garden with nothing much left to admire, he was mighty angry. He sped off directly to Brer Fox's house. The door was bolted and the shutters were closed tight. Brer Rabbit couldn't hear anything except the sound of his own stomach grumbling. But all around was the sweet smell of soup cooking. Brer Rabbit knocked on the door. Bam Bam Bam. No answer. "I know you're there, Brer Fox," called Brer Rabbit. "Now you open this door." No answer. He knocked harder. Bam Bamity Bam. "I know those are my carrots in your soup," said Brer Rabbit, "and I want them back. Now open this door!" Finally there was an answer from inside. "Too bad," said Brer Fox. "I ain't opening this door. I'm making enough soup in here to keep me till spring comes." Brer Rabbit tried knocking the door in. He kicked at it and hammered on it, but that door didn't budge. Finally he gave up. He was hoppin mad. Now you know that Brer Rabbit was the best at trickety tricking, and when he was mad, watch out. But he could never stay mad long. And the next thing you know Brer Rabbit was chuckling. It hadn't taken him long to think of a plan to get his carrots back and make Brer Fox mad too. On Christmas Eve, Brer Rabbit heaved a sackful of stones on his shoulder and climbed up on Brer Fox's roof. He clattered around making plenty of noise. "Who's that up there?" called Brer Fox. "It's Santa Claus," said Brer Rabbit in a gruff voice he hoped sounded like Santa Claus. "And I got a sackful of presents for you." "Oh, you got presents for me?" said Brer Fox. "Well, you're most welcome here, Santa Claus. But ain't you supposed to come down the chimney?" "Sure am," said Brer Rabbit in his Santa Claus voice. "But I can't. I'm stuck in the chimney. You want to see?" Brer Fox unbolted the door and peered outside. "Well, don't come down then," he hollered up at the roof. "Just drop the presents down the chimney and I'll catch them." "Can't," answered Brer Rabbit. "The sack is stuck too. But if you do what I say, I'd be mighty grateful. Climb up into the chimney. Then catch hold of this piece of string and pull the sack down yourself." Brer Fox was only too happy to help. "That's easy," he said. "Here I come up the chimney." He started clawing his way up. Like lightning, Brer Rabbit leaped off that roof and into the doorway. There were his carrots in a pile, and on the stove was a big old pot of soup, all fragrant and bubbling, and on the table were some biscuits and mince pie, and there in the middle was the biggest, fattest Christmas pudding he'd ever seen. Brer Rabbit's mouth began to water at the sight of all that food. But he didn't waste much time. He grabbed as much as he could, stuffed it into his sack and took off running. Meantime, Brer Fox was struggling to get up the chimney. He couldn't see any string, but he felt it hanging down. So he gave a pull. The sack opened and out tumbled all the stones right on Brer Fox's head. My goodness, he went down that chimney fast. That rascally Brer Rabbit laughed at how he'd taken care of Brer Fox. But he kept out of Brer Fox's way all that Christmas day and for some time afterward.

15) My most favorite come from Julius Lester's Uncle Remus: Hold'im Down, Brer Fox where Brer Rabbit has Brer Fox tied to the tail of a horse. I love reading this one (can't do it without the book) out loud and I get such a laugh at the pace, language and action in it........this is my story that I tell myself (others if they want to hear it too but family sometimes too busy doing other things.)

The Noise in the Woods where a loud noise scares Brer Rabbit (Mr. Man has chopped down a tree) and he runs and a chain of fright develops among the other animals as each in turn runs from somthing they didn't hear! In the end they are all together and realize that they have been running from something that no one heard and some believe didn't happen. When they confront Brer Rabbit they ask him what kind of noise that is was and he chuckles and says, "You ought to ask me that first, Brer Coon. Wasn't nothing but Mr. Man cutting down a tree. If you'd asked me, I would've told you. Sho' would have."

I also love the Rabbit, Whale and Elephant story on Mike's CD. I played this to my students this summer in a storytelling class and they loved it too. It really sums up the Rabbit, trickster character.

16) I think Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby is my favorite -- that tricky guy can get out of any fix; I hope I can too. Here is a cute bit from Kidwarmers -- Niko, 8, who lives in Chicago, comes to spend every summer with his Aunt Renee in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When Renee asked Niko if he was happy to be back in Cedar Rapids for the summer, he said, very seriously, "Aunt Renee, how come every time I come here, I never see any rabbits?" "Why would you expect to see rabbits here?" Renee asked. Niko replied, "Isn't this town called See-The-Rabbits (Cedar Rapids)?"

17) Just got back from the Library arranging for a Tellabration. While waiting for the Adult Program Coordinator I perused the storytelling shelf and found and old book Rabbit Tales, stories collected by Barbara Purchase, ISBN 0-442-24530-0 and 0-442-24529-7 (pbk) It seems to be a fun collection of folk lore on the rabbit theme.

Here is a quote from Edward Lear:
There was an Old Person whose habits
Induced him to feed upon rabbits;
Whe he'd eaten eighteen
He turned perfectly green
Upon which he relinquished those habits.

18) In my research I came across an interesting brer rabbit and da tar baby variant. Wakaima and the Clay Man. Wakaima (rabbit) and his pal Wanjovu (elephant) Elephant got tired of the lazy rabbit and said let each of us have his own farm. We will share what we grow. Instead of rabbit planting he ate wild fruit and slept under the trees. One night elephant brought in corn and potatoes and shared with rabbit. the next night rabbit picked corn and potatoes from eleph's farm. eleph looked at them very carefully, they looked like his. so he made a clay man with arms outstretched and set it up between. rabbit hit it and got stuck. eleph finds him. and pulls him off the clay man . at first eleph said that he was going to eat rabbit (but I guess he remembered he was a vegetarian) then turned to rabbit and said Well, what do you want me to do. Throw me high up in the branches of those trees. He landed lightly and ran into the jungle. Rabbit and eleph have not spoken to one another, since. In the author's notes these stories are Baganda folklore. East Africa. Have any of you ever run into Wakaima? I really think this may be the origin of brer rabbit and the tar baby.

19) Many of you may already be familiar with this tale but I discovered it this weekend and told it for the first time today. It is called, The Theft of Honey. You can find it in Cajun Folktales, a collection by the beloved J.J. Reneaux. I learned it specifically for our third graders who take French and were learning about the Mardi Gras this week. The story is a fun trickster tale with a subtle message about greed and sharing with your friends. It was very well received by the students and the French teacher and I played off of each other effortless, without any prior knowledge on her part of what story I would share. She is the kind of teacher who should be cloned and placed in every school in America; kind, respectful, thoughtful, gentle, caring and fun. The children obviously adore her and with good reason. So if you are in the mood or have the need for a fun trickster tale, spend some time with Lapin (rabbit) and his friend the fox.
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BOOKS:

• When Turtle Grew Feathers: A Tale from the Choctaw Nation by Tim Tingle (2007 - ages 4-8)
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2–Variations of the race between the tortoise and the hare crop up regularly, but this version, retold as a trickster tale, stands out for its humor and expressive illustrations. Here, the rabbit only thinks he raced a turtle. In fact, it was a flying turkey wearing Turtle's shell. Also a porquoi tale, the story begins when Turkey steps on Turtle's back, breaking his shell into pieces. Turkey recruits an army of ants to mend it with cornsilk, and the shell transforms from a swirl into its familiar geometric pattern. In appreciation, Turtle allows Turkey to try it on just as Rabbit appears, itching for a race. The rest is history, though few have heard the historic event retold quite like this. The prose alternates between rhyming and nonrhyming text and for the most part it bounces along without stumbling. A few lines feel manipulated to create the rhyme, such as 'What is it?' asked Turtle, his eyes opened wide./'Here comes Rabbit,' said the Little Bitty Five./'Rabbit wants to race, and he won't be denied.' Bright cartoon illustrations capture the tale's humor and energy. Turkey explodes off the page as he emerges from Turtle's shell, ready to run. The animals' various emotions are well rendered, including Turtle's chagrin, Rabbit's aggression and later humiliation, and the budding friendship between Turtle and Turkey. Use this book as a variation to a common folktale, an introduction to Native American lore, or as a fine read-aloud all on its own.–Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR
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(This web page updated 9/11/03; 2/2/08)