7.6 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publication date 1944 Pages 127 pp Originally published 1944 Genre Children's literature Publisher Viking Press | 3.8/5 Goodreads Language English Media type Hardcover, paperback Followed by The Tough Winter Illustrator Robert Lawson Awards John Newbery Medal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Robert Lawson books, John Newbery Medal winners, Children's literature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rabbit Hill is a children's novel by Robert Lawson that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1945.
Contents
Plot introduction
The story takes place in countryside by a crossroads in Westport, Connecticut. The animal inhabitants are suffering as the house nearby has been abandoned for several years and the untended garden, the animals' source of food, has withered to nothing. "New Folks" then move into the house: Are they hunters, or friendly gardeners who will provide for the animals?
Literary significance and criticism
The book was written at the end of World War II when racial integration and providing aid to the war torn countries of Europe were on everyone's minds. When reading the story with those in mind, the moral intent becomes clear. Printings of the book beginning in the 1970s and continuing today have edited the character Sulphronia, the new occupants' cook. This was done because she was originally depicted as an African American stereotype.
Film and television
"Little Georgie of Rabbit Hill" was a 1967 television adaptation for NBC Children's Theatre.