Rabbit books by Nathalie Russell

 Brown Rabbit in the City and Moon Rabbit are two beautifully illustrated books which each incorporate important life lessons about friendship and independence.

Moon Rabbit is actually the first book in the series and is about Little Rabbit who is happy living an independent life in the city, yet still wonders if there is someone else out there for her.  She finds just that someone in the form of Brown Rabbit, who is from outside the city and plays the guitar and makes Little Rabbit laugh and dance.  Yet, Little Rabbit finds that she still longs for the city, and ultimately returns to the life that she loves, feeling happier and at peace knowing that she has Brown Rabbit in her life.

I thought is was a lovely story, which doesn't merely end with finding the person of your dreams and living happily ever after together, but rather illustrates that you can find people to share parts of your life with and still carry on as an individual too. There is also a second lesson that Brown Rabbit learns in this book, which is that if you really want someone else to be happy, sometimes you have to let them go. This was probably all lost on Bud Bud, who is after all only 2 1/2  (though a sage 2 1/2, I think) - but it gave us some good talking points to discuss friendship and I think that he could understand the concepts of loneliness and happiness, and he loves looking at the pictures of the rabbits dancing and playing the guitar.

However, really truly, I LOVE the illustrations.  Nathalie Russell creates whimsical prints which not only make for a sweet and yet dynamic picture book, but which I would be proud to display on my wall.  They really are just lovely with repetitive patterns, elements and colors showing up page after page.  My favorite in this book is definitely the scene where Little Rabbit is sitting under the tree in the park listening to Brown Rabbit play his guitar while blossoms and musical notes blow all around her.

If you loved Moon Rabbit as much as we did, be sure to check out the next in the series, Brown Rabbit in the City, which tells the tale of Brown Rabbit coming to the city to visit Little Rabbit.  One of the major threads running through these two books is the grass is greener theme from Town Mouse, Country Mouse, but Brown Rabbit in the City also incorporates a second narrative of good friendship.  Little Rabbit learns that to be a good friend she needs to think of her friends desires too rather than simply her own.

Brown Rabbit in the City is full of the same wonderful illustrations as in Moon Rabbit, and I would love to see more books in this series.