Because of the Rabbit

Cynthia Lord's Because of the Rabbit is a gentle, big-hearted story for 8 year olds about a girl going to school for the first time ever, with a rescued bunny waiting at home.

What happens

Emma has always been homeschooled in the Maine woods. Now she's starting fifth grade at the local school, and the night before, she goes out with her dad, a game warden, on a call-out. A wild rabbit is stuck in someone's picket fence.

Except it isn't a wild rabbit. It's a tiny honey-gold bunny, clearly someone's lost pet. The lady whose fence it is drives off, so the rabbit comes home with them for the night. He's supposed to go to the shelter after school.

You can guess how that goes. Emma names him Monsieur Lapin (Lapi for short), after the trickster rabbit in her grandfather's stories. By bedtime she's already smuggled him up to her room in a laundry basket.

The rabbit is lovely, but the real heart of it is Emma. She's excited and scared in equal measure, and she and her brother Owen used to picture those two feelings running a race. That's such a nice way for a child to think about nerves. Owen has moved on to high school and new friends, and Emma misses him more than she lets on.

Emma's biggest wish is a best friend. There's even a checklist! The first-day chapters are spot on. She practises her smile in the mirror, blurts out an answer without putting her hand up, and gets told her red hair looks like oranges.

It's quietly funny and very kind. If you've got a child who's nervous about starting somewhere new, or who's ever felt like the only one who doesn't know the rules, they'll feel understood here. It's the everyday wobbles of fitting in that carry it.

Animal lovers will enjoy the details too. Emma's dad brings home all sorts of injured wildlife, and Owen calls their house a wildlife bed and breakfast (there's been a fox cub by the woodstove and a turtle in the sink).

What to read next

For another girl who can't walk past an animal that needs her, try Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door. Lulu can't bear watching the new boy's rabbit sit in his hutch day after day.