The Rabbit Listened
Author: Cori Doerrfeld
Illustrator: Cori Doerrfeld
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
20 February 2018
40 pages

This month’s PB review is by Ryan G. Van Cleave (Top Rabbit at Only Picture Books) and Ringling College of Art and Design Illustration Professor (and OPB champion) John Herzog.

–Ryan’s Review of the Writing–

While this is a quiet book in many ways, the story starts with a disaster–birds knock down Taylor’s super-​tall, super-​cool block tower. In response, animal after animal arrives, with each acting in ways that match their animal nature. The chicken? It clucks away endlessly. The bear? It wants to roar and be mad. The snake? Revenge! But none of these interactions prove useful to Taylor, so each animal eventually wanders off. They all are more or less well-​intentioned, but they are more concerned with their solutions than thinking about what–if anything–Taylor needs.

It’s only the rabbit that doesn’t try to impose its natural response to the situation. It simply listens and is present, moving closer until “Taylor could feel its warm body.” This allows the child–half of the reviewers claim it’s a he, and half say Taylor is 100% gender neutral–to have their own range of reactions. Given the chance to respond as Taylor chooses, Taylor’s able to move past the many emotions (laughing, shouting, etc.) and can finally build once again.

Some readers will surely want to play up the animal voices to good effect when reading The Rabbit Listened to a child. The pacing of this story, too, lends itself well to reading aloud.

Will some readers find the message too straightforward or didactic? Perhaps. But it’s a sweet, simple story that teaches empathy, and that’s a lesson parents like myself wish were included in more picture books.

4 out of 5 pencils

–John’s Review of the Illustrations–

I’m really torn when it comes to The Rabbit Listened. No doubt Cori Doerrfeld has crafted an interesting take on what is essentially the five stages of grief. From an illustration standpoint, however, I feel there were a few missed opportunities.

For example, Taylor–our protagonist–is visited by all kinds of animals. We see them with Taylor in various spot illustrations that are organized just so on the page. On the far side of one spread, we see the animals walking away from Taylor, who’s on the opposite side. It’s adequate, I suppose, but we never truly get a sense of the crowd. We never get an image of all the animals overshadowing Taylor, enhancing and illustrating that overwhelming feeling of isolation. We get a great image of the bear doing that, but it would’ve felt much more powerful if all of the animals were there looking down at us.

Honestly, a little disorganization would’ve tremendously helped the first half of this book. Animals! Animals everywhere! Spouting advice and nonsense! It would’ve made the quieter scenes with the rabbit during the second half all the more endearing, providing some much-​needed contrast from the animal madness. Instead, the illustrations just feel a bit flat and somewhat sparse.

The strongest aspect of this book is the design of the main character. It’s very clear that Taylor is who we should be rooting for with their fun, messy hair and rounded features. The rabbit is fluffy and cute, of course, but feels a bit stock. The rest of the animals are designed somewhat grotesquely to emphasize Taylor’s ambivalence and aversion to their advice, I imagine. Yet from my perspective, these animals were only trying to help. Yes, they went about it in a bombastic way, but that doesn’t make them monsters. I wish they were softened up a bit, if anything to reinforce the idea that loved ones who suggest action in times of turmoil are only trying to help.

Perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into it.

I definitely like that we don’t have much of a sense of place and time, and I absolutely love the final image where we see Taylor’s vision of their next big building venture. And please don’t get me wrong–it’s important to listen in a situation like this. And Taylor eventually accepts what happened and moves on, which is nice and quite appropriate. For me, however, The Rabbit Listened perhaps aspires to be greater and deeper than it actually is.

3 out of 5 crayons

John Herzog is an illustrator and educator. His clients include Hasbro, James Patterson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Highlights for Children. He also teaches illustration classes at Ringling College of Art and Design. He lives in Florida with his wife, two kids, a pair of tarantulas, a bearded dragon, and a fish.