Family Book Club: The Rabbit Listened

Title: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld. You can also find read-aloud versions on YouTube, but remember to buy books to support authors if you're able!

Reading level: picture book

Synopsis: One day, Taylor built something amazing. But too soon, it all got knocked down. Taylor was dismayed, even when different animal friends came and tried to help. The chicken wanted to talk through it; the bear wanted to shout about it; the elephant wanted to remember exactly how it looked; the hyena wanted to laugh; the ostrich wanted to hide; the kangaroo wanted to clean it all up; and the snake wanted to break something of someone else's. But Taylor didn't want to do any of those things, so the animals all left. Taylor was alone. Until the rabbit came up on quiet paws and sat silently. The rabbit listened as Taylor talked; shouted; remembered; laughed; and made plans to hide, clean it all up, and knock down something else. Finally, Taylor was ready to start over, and the rabbit just smiled, listening to Taylor's plans.

Categories: friendship, grief, support, processing emotions

Questions: 

1. Taylor goes through a bunch of different emotions before feeling better and ready to start building again. What emotions help you work through sadness and anger?
    
2. Our friends don't always respond to things the same way we do. When have you helped a friend work through something difficult, and how did you help them?
    
3. Having a friend listen made Taylor feel better. Are there things your friends and family can do for you that make you happy when you're sad?
    
4. Is there a time you felt like you weren't listened to? If so, would it make you feel better to talk about it now?

Activities:

1. It's hard not to be upset when you make something amazing and it falls apart or gets ruined. But sometimes, the act of knocking something down it the best part! Using dominoes—or whatever else you may have at home—try to create the biggest, longest, wildest trail to be knocked down. If you get stuck, watch this compilation of 2019 pop culture domino sets for inspiration.
    
2. Sometimes when we're sad, we forget to say thank you to our friends and family for supporting us. But even after the fact, we can always say thank you with a card! Gather up your craft supplies and make homemade thank you cards that you can always have on hand and/or that you can deliver in retrospect.

Thank you so much to Red Balloon Bookshop for partnering with us on this series! If you'd like to see all of the Family Book Club picks in one place, check out their FBC page.