The Country Bunny And The Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Howard
The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes is a 1939 picture book telling the story of Cottontail, a small, brown mother bunny who aspires to be an Easter bunny. In this telling, is a highly competitive position for which only five bunnies are selected each year. She applies only to be scorned by the elite Easter bunnies, who tell her to “go back to the country and eat a carrot.” She returns to the country where “by and by she had a husband and then one day, much to her surprise there were twenty-one Cottontail babies to take care of.” She brings them up exceedingly well, teaching them to be responsible, self-reliant and cooperative by requiring them to help in the vegetable garden and with the housework. Then, she returns to the big city where she not only aces the Easter-bunny job interview, but becomes one of the most celebrated Easter bunnies of all time, admired for her heroism and the skills she learned rearing 21 little bunnies.
Written by Du Bose Howard
Illustrated by Marjorie Flack