Alison Uttley (17 December 1884 – 7 May 1976), née Alice Jane Taylor, was a prolific British writer of over 100 books. She is now best known for her children's series about Little Grey Rabbit, and Sam Pig.
I watched the latest Miranda Mills vlog, where she recommended several childhood favourites as spring reads. Amongst the vintage children's books she talked about a couple of the Little Grey Rabbit books. I looked through the ones I have, and though I didn't find the ones she spoke about, I did find this one so it seemed the perfect time to revisit it. In this one, Hare has to go and find some Crown Imperial lollies to finish off the crown of flowers the animals are making for their May Day celebration. Full of charm, fabulous illustrations, and Very nostalgic.
This was the second Little Grey Rabbit book I read, and although it took a second place to Pancake Day, it was still a complete delight. I was educated at home, and my parents were having a hard time finding reading material which was at my level, and still written in decent English so, Little Grey Rabbit to the Rescue. As an adult, I'm particularly impressed that Uttley was daring enough to write a children's book about a Pagan holiday. The May Carol was also particularly endearing. "May Day, we sing to the may, to the sun and the moon, and the Milky Way" I imagined high squeaky voices going sharp on "Wa-a-a-ay". My only dissapointment was that the doll featured in the story was never pictured.