The Black Rabbit by Philippa Leathers (review)

Little Rabbit is alarmed one bright sunny day to find a large black rabbit following him: “Rabbit ran. But the Black Rabbit was right behind him.” What Rabbit doesn’t understand, but what child viewers will quickly comprehend, is that the Black Rabbit is his shadow, which explains why he can’t outrun it and why it doesn’t follow him into the dark, sunless forest. The Black Rabbit comes in quite handy, however, when a wolf chases Rabbit, only to be frightened away by the enormous rabbit shadow as they emerge into the sunlight. Tiny white Rabbit with his short, stumpy legs, big eyes, and exceptionally long ears is an endearing little guy; his fear of the silent, looming Black Rabbit is palpable in both the short, tightly focused text and the illustrations, rendering the happy ending a satisfying relief. The simple compositions and minimal but atmospheric background detail of Leathers’ subtly variegated artwork keep the focus squarely on Rabbit, his shadow, and Wolf. This would be useful for a number of educational purposes, from using as an example for making inferences (it’s never stated in the text that the Black Rabbit is Rabbit’s shadow) to introducing the science topic of light and shadow. It could also be successfully paired with Asch’s Moonbear’s Shadow for a shadow-themed storytime.