Rabbit Hill (Puffin Modern Classics)

Rabbit Hill (Puffin Modern Classics)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71  ·  rating details  ·  2,402 ratings  ·  160 reviews
It has been a while since Folks lived in the Big House, and an even longer time has passed since there has been a garden at the House. All the animals of the Hill are very excited about the new Folks moving in, and they wonder how things are going to change. It’s only a matter of time before the animals of the Hill find out just who is moving in, and they may be a little b...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published February 15th 2007 by Puffin (first published 1944)
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The Giver by Lois LowryHoles by Louis SacharA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'EngleBridge to Terabithia by Katherine PatersonNumber the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Most Deserving Newbery
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Charlotte's Web by E.B. WhiteThe Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. LewisAnne of Green Gables by L.M. MontgomeryLittle Women by Louisa May Alcott
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Logan
Some authors are so easy and fun to read aloud and Lawson is one of them. We both enjoyed the tight and somewhat gossipy animal community of Rabbit Hill, who are all agog that someone new is moving into the farm house around with they live. Will these people tolerate the animals in their vegetable garden or will they be vegetable misers? Read this funny and sweet story to find out.

Update: The review above was from 2008, when Logan was 4. We just read it again in 2013 and he's 8 1/2. He didn't r...more
Wayne S.
A lot of animals live on Rabbit Hill in rural Connecticut outside of Danbury. They include Father and Mother Rabbit, their son little Georgie, Porkey the Woodchuck, the Gray Fox, the Gray Squirrel, Willie Fieldmouse, Mole, Phewie the Skunk, the Red Buck, and many others. Over three years ago, good Folks lived in the house, the lawns were thick, the fields were covered with clover, and the gardens were full of vegetables. Then evil days fell on the Hill when the good Folks moved away and their su...more
Katherine
This was my first time reading Rabbit Hill. I found it to be a surprising read. I liked the use of regional dialects for each animal character. I expected the plot to be a little more thrilling, but like many Newbery's it was more of a quiet story with a few action packed moments (Georgie's jump and the anticipation of what the new folks were building).

I was a little concerned about the new folks eating domesticated animals. As a former vegetarian, it is interesting how people view wild animals,...more
Laura
I simply loved Robert Lawson’s book Mr. Revere and I, and I really enjoyed his book The Great Wheel. So you can imagine how excited I was to find another of his books – and a Newbery at that!

The Story.

“New folks are coming! New folks are coming!” is the cry that spreads over the community of Rabbit Hill like a wildfire. All of the animals are excited – Phewie the skunk can’t wait to raid their garbage can, while Red Buck and Willie Fieldmouse are more excited at the prospect of a thriving garden...more
Marissa Masterson
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson is a modern fantasy book. It is about a all different animals worrying about their food supply. Since it has been a long time since the folks moved out of the house they have been scarce on food. When the news of new folks moving in, they are very happy but hesitant to see what will happen. After seeing the new folks and how they care for the animals, all the animals live a happy life filled with food. Lawson stuck to the literary standards for a modern fantasy book....more
Jill
Nov 06, 2010 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: read aloud age 6+
This Newbery winner reminded me of Miss Hickory in the way the animals in the story are humanized. I thought it was well done. I think it's that I enjoy stories of animal/human interaction told from the point of view of the animal (Mrs. Frisby, Despereaux...) more than ones about human/animal companionship like Sounder or It's Like This, Cat. I thought the characters were loveable and memorable, in particular Little Georgie in his sweet, innocent way, and Father the way he cares for the other an...more
Antof9
This was cute, and for the life of me, it made me want to grow more stuff in my garden! LOL

I didn't love it, and was surprised how long it took me to read it (but I had houseguests all week, so maybe that was it), but I did like it, and I think it would be a favorite with kids. "The lady" and "the man" were really well done, and all the excitement about New Folks among the animals on the hill was pretty fun.

The best lines, though, weren't delivered by animals - they were from people.

Louie Kersta
...more
Katya Reimann
This book did not win literary acclaim in its own time because it is a gentle-spirited, lovely, book about animals and their families. It won because it hints at the deeper perspective of the landscape in which these animals live.

The human presence on the landscape--fore-fronted in the story by a home sale, and a new human family renovating and moving into a home that has long been left empty in the center of a community of small, wild animals--is considered through the deeper span of history,...more
NebraskaIcebergs
“This here hill is full of animals,” says Tim to Louie, two of the human characters in Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson. This statement is true of the hill, which boasts rabbits, squirrels, mice, woodchucks, skunks, moles, and deer. The statement is also true of the book, which is about a rabbit family and their critter friends. If you like animals, especially those found in the country, you will treasure this tale.

The book begins, as all good stories should, with the excitement of change: “On every...more
Jen
This was a cute little story. Nothing too profound except the notion that wild animals won't dig up your garden if you leave a little food out for them every night. Who knows if that's true.

The characters were your basic one-dimensional cartoon-type animals, each with a certain emotion that mostly corresponded with the type of animal. Very Winnie-the-Pooh like.

Lawson's drawings were lovely and life-like, although occasionally creepy when he drew them pointing or waving.

I don't really have much...more
Megan
Another Newbery read. It's hard for me to get super excited about this one now, but I think that as a kid, I would have liked it a lot. I went through a phase of reading lots of animal books then. For adults, it's a good reminder that we can live with the animals around us; we don't have to constantly push them away. Now, to someone who lives near a state park, has deer in her yard every day from April to September, and whose trash cans are constantly raided by raccoons and foxes, I realize that...more
Jen
Medal Winner 1945

I had read this one before at some point, but I wish I had remembered about it when I was teaching! This would still be a great read aloud. From the viewpoints of the small animals that live on the Hill, we hear about the adventures that surround the arrival of New Folks in the house. Will they be planting folk, bringing abundance to the animal families once again? Animal books can drive me crazy, due to over-sappiness or an inconsistent combination of animal traits and anthropo...more
Jason
This book is truly a charm. Robert Lawson invokes the mood for a younger person that will later be embraced by those who enjoy "Watership Down," and similar stories in which woodland creatures are the central characters. It bridges the gap between the earliest "Peter Rabbit" tales from nursery days to the more "grown-up" interests of a pre-teen, and for the uninitiated, you might even learn a little something about St. Francis of Assisi.

A quick read in the vein of "Wind in the Willows" but with...more
Lavender911
Rabbit Hill is about the animals on the Hill and mostly Little Georgie. It has been a while since Folks lived in the Big House, and an even longer time has passed since there has been a garden. All the animals of the Hill are very excited about the new folks moving in, and they wonder how things are going to change. They may be a little bit surprised at what the new folks do!

I really liked Rabbit Hill because it had was a nice book to read and was descriptive. It also had a nice twist at the end...more
Jan
Another childhood favorite that holds up well. Robert Lawson both wrote and illustrated the book, something you rarely see anymore. I loved this as a child, and just re-read for the first time in a few decades. What stands out now for me is the beauty of the illustrations, very finely drawn portraits of more and less anthropomorphized animals and the weird conflict between almost communist ideals ("There is enough for all") and the racist, almost feudal ideal of the Good Folks and their servants...more
Larry Ratcliffe
...I was forced to read this grossly substandard book in Grade 4 while the grade fivers that shared our classroom read The Secret World of Og. I felt sorry for myself and would've hit the bottle hard if I had had a bootlegger and more than five bucks a week from mowing our lawn. The next year I read The Secret World Of Og and realized I had been duped again but my allowance was no higher (it may have even been winter anyways). "What rubbish is this?" I asked myself. It's no wonder barely any of...more
Laila
I've been trying for years to find a book that I read as a child and have little memory of the story (something about animals living in a house at the end of the road?) but very strong visuals of the delightful, magical garden outside. I thought I had finally found it when I stumbled upon Rabbit Hill but no dice. So sad. My search continues. Anyway, Rabbit Hill was good, I loved the father's obsequious, gentlemanly style of talking and the new people were so GOOD! But the animals seemed super vi...more
Mrs. Trimble
New Folks are moving into the old, abandoned farmhouse in the middle of the country and the little woodland creatures are very excited because now they will finally have more food. This story is told from the point of view of the animals and is a fun tale about survival, friendship, and community. I especially enjoyed the highbrow accent that the author gave to “Father” since he was basically “in-charge” of the community on the hill. The brown sketched endpapers and illustrations are very detail...more
Dawn
1944: Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson( Viking Press) Newberry Winner Fantasy
Rabbit Hill is the story about the animals that live on the hill. They are all excited,or worried, about the new people moving into the house. All is well when the New People are animal lovers. I found the religious symbolism was accurate to the time frame the book was written. During WWII when God, Church, and neighbors taking care of each other, was very important to the general population. It is an old fashion book but I...more
Bonnie
I was inspired to pick this one up by its mention more than once recently by different friends. I know I enjoyed it as a kid. Beautifully illustrated by its author, there wasn't much of the book that sparked remembrance, like when I first picked up the Trixie Belden books after so many years, but I still enjoyed the reread thoroughly. It's a wonderful book for young readers, very vivid with both laughter and tears. Yes, I was actually crying as I read the ending. Definite recommendation for youn...more
Nancy
This Newbery Medal winner from 1946 features a quaint story about rabbits that speaks to society in general and how a community needs to work together for the good of everyone. It features exquisite pen-and-ink sketchings, and if I were teaching primary grades, I wouldn't hesitate to read it aloud to children so they could experience its lovely and, sometimes, elaborate language. Now, that's the way to build vocabulary scores in America (and then, when they're older, they'll be ready for Watersh...more
Kerrie
Oct 01, 2011 Kerrie rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: bunny lovers
My bunnies approved.

Life on the Hill is changing with the arrival of New Folks. Will they be Good Folks, with a big luscious garden that the Little Animals can feast on? Or will it be Bad Folks, like the last ones, with traps, guns, and poisons?

Every animal in this book was their own character with their own voice. Father spoke like an Old Southern Colonel from Bluegrass Country (although this takes place in Connecticut - he must have married a Northern girl). Uncle Analdas was that cranky, para...more
Josiah
Mrs. Minella, my third-grade teacher, first read this book to me as part of our class, and it has stayed with me since.
I'm glad to see that Robert Lawson's work was awarded a Newbery Medal, as he contributed quite a few very good books to literature for young readers. In fact, the Newbery Medal awarded to this book completed his trifecta of sorts, winning the Caldecott Medal for "They Were Strong and Good", illustrating a Newbery Medal winner (Elizabeth Janet Gray's "Adam of the Road"), and no...more
Matt
A pleasant read with lovely illustrations and (I think?) a positive agenda hidden in there. Basically the story of animals and humans learning to live together and get along, this book was published in 1944. It's hard not to see a fight for optimism in the repeated arguments that even traditional enemies can work together and create a better world hand-in-hand. There's even an appearance by (a statue of) St. Francis at the end to underline the point. A fun book and you gotta love the message.
Jackie
The animals of Rabbit Hill are excited when New Folks are moving into the neglected big house. They hope and hope that they are gardening folks and that their meager supply of food will once again be abundant.

As they move in, little by little the animals see that they are good folk...fixing the house, planting the garden, and making the animals part of the property. But, when an almost-tragedy strikes, the animals are in for a big surprise and a heart-felt welcome.

Newbery Award: 1945
Ryan
I have to say, I didn't give this one much chance. I think it was because I could barely get through the first Redwall book. (I've never been big on anthropomorphism. For some reason I just don't care enough about talking animals to get into the story.) Listening to Rabbit Hill, I started having flashbacks of invented "animal culture", tedious feast descriptions, and the never-ending songs. I think I'm going to take a break from Newberry Winners for a while.
Marion
I hate to pan a Newberry Award winner, especially one that has kindness to animals as its main theme. Lawson's story, though, took anthropomorphism to extremes without any of the charm found in other animal stories (e.g. Charlotte's Web or the Beatrix Potter books). I didn't find the characters' personality quirks, such as the mother's endless worrying and the father's ceaseless boasting about his life in Kentucky, endearing, but annoying. Also, the misspellings within the quotes were, I'm sure,...more
Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance
“New Folks coming…new Folks coming into the Big House!” That’s the cry of every Animal on Rabbit Hill. The Animals are filled with excitement…and fear. Will the new people bring a new prosperity to the house and the hill? Or will they bring danger?

Not to give away too much, but the charm of the story is the way the new Folks are everything the Animals could hope for and more, beautiful role models of love.
Melissa (ladybug)
A story about the little animals that live on the Hill. The House on the Hill hasn't had any people living on it and is falling apart. The animals find out that new people are coming and the book follows them as they wonder about the new owners and how they will treat the animals of the Hill. It was simple and sweet and just right for a new beginning readers' chapter book
Christina
I've meant to read this for years and it wasn't what I expected, but I don't quite know what I expected. Rabbit Hill is a place in connecticut where many small animals live, but find their livelyhood rather difficult due to having sloppy humans for neighbors; they had bad kitchen scraps, and a terrible vegetable patch. Things are about to change though with new "folks" moving in, and the animals find all the indications point to these new people to be very promising.
I found this to read like Mi...more
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Born in New York City, Lawson spent his early life in Montclair, New Jersey. Following high school, he studied art for three years under illustrator Howard Giles (an advocate of dynamic symmetry as conceived by Jay Hambidge) at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now Parsons School of Design), marrying fellow artist and illustrator Marie Abrams in 1922. His career as an illustrator began...more
More about Robert Lawson...
Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos Mr. Revere and I: Being an Account of certain Episodes in the Career of Paul Revere,Esq. as Revealed by his Horse They Were Strong and Good The Great Wheel The Tough Winter

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“Going to fetch Uncle Analdas. Have you been by the Hill?"
Just left there," Robin answered. "Everybody's excited. Seems there's new Folks coming."
Yes, I know," cried Little Georgie eagerly. "I've just made a song about it. Wouldn't you like to hear it? It goes like -"
No, thanks," called Robin.”
2 people liked it
“I've made up a song about the new Folks," he (Little Georgie)added eagerly. "Would you like to hear it?"
Don't think I would," answered Uncle Analdas.”
1 person liked it
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