So it’s not hard for me to imagine Shaun Tan’s two boys playing through a hot Australian summer in Rules of Summer, when a red sock on a wash-line morphs into something far more sinister.
Even vintage cards celebrating Easter with their threatening even macabre bunnies in a Paula Rego way… seem hardly loving or joyous Easter messages for a child to receive from a doting grandmother or parent.
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a harnessed rabbit with a determined ringmaster? |
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angelic boy stuffing rabbits into a box? |
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demonic looking rabbits stuffed into eggs? |
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cross-dressed rooster brandishing weapon at rabbit? |
And the manic March Hare... again the eye!
And I recall frissons of fear at seeing the rabbits of Pookie in Search of a Home scaring off the woodcutters with the drumming sounds of their hind legs, as a child.
But there can't be more superbly vengeful rabbits than these in the wordless picture book La Revanche des lapins by Korean illustrator Suzy Lee where a group of rabbits harass a reckless ice-cream van driver on a dark night.
Lastly... can't let the day go by without a cheer for Zeraffa Giraffa’s first book birthday on this exact day... with plenty of giraffes and balloons and my favourite girl in giraffe glasses!
www.diannehofmeyr.com
Twitter @dihofmeyr
Zeraffa Giraffa, illustrated by Jane Ray and published by Frances Lincoln, is on The Sunday Times List of children's classics for the last 10 years.
Really interesting piece - thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteSome seriously scary "rabbits" there!
ReplyDeleteRabbits are scary. As someone who was brought up eating rabbits, I used to be scared of them as a child. And the scariest thing of all? If you stroked a little bunny rabbit, you'd transfer your skin-smell on to it and its own mummy would kill it.
ReplyDeleteGood grief Saviour. I really didn't know that. Grown ups always said don't touch that baby bird or the mother will reject it (but not eat it!) Afterwards I realised it was my parents way of saying... I'm not having that bird in shoebox in our house! It will only end in tears!
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ReplyDeleteRabbits are considered to be vermin Downunder and I have to confess the wild sort are not at all "nice".
ReplyDeleteI did meet a domestic rabbit in Upover that I rather liked. He had spent a great deal of time just being near an elderly man who was recovering from a serious operation and allowing the old man to pet him like a dog. His daughter was convinced it had aided her father's recovery.
What a great story catdownunder. I love hearing from you... it just makes me smile when I'm reminded of that wonderful holiday I had in Australia. In fact with you in mind I often post very early as I know you're awake hours before us.
ReplyDeleteI love these illustrations. Thanks for sharing them!
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