The Bunny Band

A rhyming romp of a tale about a badger and a band of bunnies.

Lavinia the badger loves vegetables and tends her garden with care, but one morning she discovers that her lettuce has been nibbled and her potatoes and beans have disappeared! She decides to set a snare for the culprit, who turns out to be a frightened bunny. When Lavinia threatens to turn him into stew, the bunny pleads for his life, promising a rich reward if she lets him go.

The next night, when the moon rises, Lavinia is amazed to see dozens and dozens of bunnies in her garden, carrying banjos, bassoons, harps, ukuleles, trumpets, bagpipes, fifes and drums. Night after night, the bunnies play enchanting music, and Lavinia’s vegetables grow and grow and grow. At the end of the season, Lavinia lays her table with a wonderful vegetable feast for the bunny band, who promise they’ll return in the spring.

Once again, Bill Richardson and Roxanna Bikadoroff bring us a story full of old-fashioned charm and humor — a pure delight.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.