The Rabbits’ Rebellion

Ariel Dorfman's The Rabbits' Rebellion is a clever, cheeky animal fable for 8 year olds about a wolf king who bans rabbits, and the rabbits who simply won't stay out of his pictures.

What happens

When the wolves take over the rabbits' land, their leader crowns himself king. His next move is to declare that rabbits are officially gone, and nobody's allowed to mention them. He goes through every book in the kingdom with a big black pencil, just to be sure.

Then he summons an old monkey who takes photographs. The king wants a picture of every one of his very important deeds, stuck up in every home. Here he is scaring pigeons! Here he is smashing up a beavers' dam!

There's just one problem. When the monkey develops the photos, there's a rabbit ear poking in at the edge. Then a whole rabbit face, winking. Then two rabbits lolling about as if they're at a picnic, one of them thumbing her nose at the king.

The king's sly fox adviser makes the monkey rub them all out with a special liquid. But they keep coming back. Who could resist a rabbit that pops up in the corner of a photo just to be rude?

It's a short read, perfect for one sitting, and it's very funny. The wolf gives himself grander and grander titles (His Wolfiness, His Wolfhood, the Supreme Wolf...). The rabbits never say a word. They just keep turning up.

The monkey's little girl is the heart of it. She knows the rabbits are real, even when her parents shush her, and she keeps asking her dad for a photo of them.

There's a lot to chat about afterwards. It's really a story about a bully in charge who decides what everyone is allowed to believe. Why do you think the rabbits keep appearing? What would you have done if you were the monkey? Older children will probably spot all sorts of things in it.

The wolf is quite menacing in places. He threatens to eat the monkey and his whole family and he's cruel to the other animals. It's all in fairy-tale style, though, and never gory.

What to read next

For another story about small animals who live underground, up against bullies with all the power, reach for Fantastic Mr Fox. Three nasty farmers are waiting outside his hole with their guns.