Sep25

Tales of the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Rabbit

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Tales of the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Rabbit

THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT

Chin, Oliver. The Year of the Rabbit, Tales of the Chinese Zodiac. San Francisco, CA: Immedium, 2011.

Rosie was born to Mama and Papa Rabbit. Rosie had soft, hazel-colored fur and long ears. She could hear everything with them.

Rosie came from a large family. She loved to play in the grassy meadow with her siblings and cousins.

One day, they discovered a large vegetable garden tended by a woman and a child, PoPo and Jai. The rabbits dug a hole under the gate that surrounded the garden, burrowing until they reached vegetables

PoPo and Jai spotted them and chased after them. The others got away but Rosie’s ears got stuck under the gate. PoPo caught Rosie but Jai persuaded her to let him keep Rosie as a pet.

Jai filled a bed of hay in a wooden hutch in the barn and gave her lettuce to eat. Curious neighbors came to see Rosie the next day to meet her and see if the tales about rabbits were really true.

Rosie enjoyed her new friends but missed her family.

One night, Rosie’s parents came to rescue her. Papa unlocked the gate but Jai heard the commotion. He and his dog ran after Rosie, startling a tiger sleeping in the bushes.

The dog ran away when he saw the tiger chasing Jai into the woods. Rosie raced through the tunnel that led to her house and out into the forest.

Just as the tiger was about to pounce on Jai, Rosie popped out of a hole and pulled the tiger by the tail. She grabbed Jai and they ran until they found a large log to hide behind.

The tiger looked and looked for them until it spotted a pair of ears sticking up behind a log. It grabbed the ears with its claws but the ears didn’t belong to a rabbit. The ears belonged to a dragon!

The dragon didn’t like its ears being pulled and chased after the tiger with his fire-breathing tongue for mile and miles!

Rosie and Jai and their families breathed easier. From then on, Jai and Rosie became best friends.

Shadow Puppets:

Rosie, the rabbit

Jai, a boy

dog

Mamma Rabbit

Pappa Rabbit

PoPo, a woman

tiger

dragon

Act out the Year of the Rabbit for your friends and family. What animals other than a dragon and a tiger can Rosie and Jai run away from?

Shadow Theatre

Shadow Theater made of recycled materials

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About marion

I first wrote and sketched as a child growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and Brooklyn, New York. I received her first recognition for my creativity when I won the New York City Schools Art Award and participated in my first art exhibit in downtown Manhattan. I was fourteen and a half when I moved to Cyprus with my family. I experienced culture shock but I continued to write about and sketch the sights and sounds of another country and many other things. I am a creative person. I write children's and Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. I write historical and Coming of Age Young Adult novels. I also write picture books and art books for elementary school children. I am in the process of writing a fictionalized biography of a member of the Belgian Resistance who also fought for the US Army during World War II. I worked as a freelance editor for two local companies: College Prowler and SterlingHouse Publisher. I also worked as an assistant literary agent for Lee Shore Agency. I was attending Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction Program at the time and the experience was invaluable. My course work toward my Master of Arts degree in turn helped me at work. As an assistant literary agent, I reviewed all incoming manuscripts, cultivated a relationship with the writers we contracted and marketed our books to book publishers for sale. I “freelanced” my editing skills which included working with the manuscript acquisitions editor, selecting book covers with the art department, writing the book jacket blurb, reading film scripts and executing general office duties as assigned. Oh, by the way, I edited books, too. I even utilized Adobe InDesign for the editing that I did for College Prowler. I’ve also reviewed published books and conducted research. I have published nonfiction articles and books online and in print. As an artist, I have exhibited my mixed media drawings and collages nationally and regionally and have worked as a freelance designer and calligrapher. I have a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

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