A Rabbit Called Clover

Helen Peters's A Rabbit Called Clover is a warm, funny farm story for 7 year olds about two runaway pet rabbits and a girl who refuses to go home without them.

What happens

Jasmine's parents have gone out for a rare night off, leaving her big sister Ella in charge. Jasmine is on the village green throwing a frisbee for her sheepdog Sky when she spots a little brown-and-white rabbit at the edge of the road. It's no wild bunny. It's somebody's pet.

Then her little brother Manu sees one too, except his is black and white. There are two of them!

What follows is a very chaotic rescue mission. The plan is to lure the rabbits with banana (Manu's idea, and annoyingly for Jasmine, a good one). It ends with Manu head first in the pond and two of Ella's books sinking beside him.

There's a fox lurking. There's a grumpy school caretaker who cheerfully tells them the rabbits have probably been eaten. And there's one very nervous bunny called Clover who just won't be caught.

With a vet for a mum and a farmer for a dad, Jasmine knows a lot about animals. The book is full of real rabbit facts that your reader will probably be repeating at dinner. Did you know rabbits click their teeth together when they're happy, a bit like purring?

The best bit is how real the family feels. Jasmine is bossy with her brother and cross with her sister, and she's convinced they're both useless. Then they surprise her.

Her best friend Tom is the calm one. He reads up on everything and turns up with a pet carrier just when she needs it. There's a lovely old farmer called Mr Hobson too, who has a tame pheasant visiting his room at the retirement home.

There are a couple of scary moments with cars on the road, but everyone comes through them, and the tension is just enough to keep a young reader turning pages.

If you've got a reader who can't walk past an animal without stopping, this is perfect.

What to read next

If Jasmine wins them over, go back to where it all started with A Piglet Called Truffle. It begins on a cold November afternoon, with Jasmine tagging along to a grumpy farmer's pigsties.