Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit
Author: Ellen C. Babbitt
Link to story: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit

"The Foolish, Timid Rabbit" image source

This particular story captured my attention because of the familiarity, and the easy to read storyline. The rabbit spreads a rumor that the world is falling apart due to a misconception of a coconut falling, and brings the animals to panic until the wise lion gets to the bottom of it. 

A story about a rabbit, "Sky is Falling" type of story
Rabbit ponders the idea of the world falling down on him when he is sleeping, just as he is thinking that a monkey's coconut falls to the ground beside him giving him the misconception that the world is falling apart. Another rabbit began to notice that this particular rabbit was running fast, with a sense of terror, therefore he began to panic and chase after him as well, soon a large group of rabbits heard the news that the world was beginning to fall down and they began to run as well. The group of rabbits spread the news to the other animals that the world was breaking up and joined them in running away. Finally, the lion found flaws in their story about the world falling down and went to the source to figure out exactly what had happened. They went back to the spot the rabbit gathered the idea of the world falling apart and noticed the coconut, and the rabbit understood his misunderstanding.
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit was the first story I read, and although the other stories were fun to read, I kept thinking about how I liked the plot of this story the best. I thought the concept of the story was very clever and was formatted in a way that was quick and easy to read. I liked the idea behind the plot is unexpected as the storyline progressed, but the reader also was able to have an insight into what really happened- the coconut falling instead of the world falling.
-Another key part of the story was the character of the rabbit was perceived as "foolish" and "fearful", whereas the lion was observed as the "courageous" and "wise". In many stories I have read, the lion is always the king of the animals and always knows what to do in times of distress. I would implement this idea into my story by having a person, or an animal who is courageous and wise, however, I might make this an unexpected animal.