''My Friend Rabbit'' is a

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann and first published in 2002. The illustrations in the book earned Rohmann the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

in 2003. ''My Friend Rabbit'' was adapted into an animated television series in 2007.

Description

''My Friend Rabbit'' is a 32-page children's picture book, which follows the adventures of a mouse and a rabbit. Rohmann used "thick-lined colored woodcuts" to illustrate his book. The reader needs to turn the book sideways to look at one image properly, making "the climax ..even more dramatic". According to a reviewer in ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'', the book's " emendous physical humor delivers a gentle lesson about accepting friends as they are".

Synopsis

A mouse loans his new airplane to his best friend, Rabbit, resulting in a series of troublesome events. When the airplane gets stuck in a tree, Rabbit gathers a group of animals in an attempt to retrieve it. The plan goes awry and the animals fall, causing them to become angry with Rabbit. Despite this, Mouse remains loyal to his friend and demonstrates the true nature of friendship. In the end, Rabbit comes up with a new idea to retrieve the airplane, leading to further adventures.

Television series

In the autumn of 2007,

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

produced an animated children's television show based on ''My Friend Rabbit''. The program was recognized with several awards, including the Pulcinella Award for Best Preschool TV Series in 2008 and the Alliance of Children's Television Award for Best Preschool Series in 2009. The show was also nominated for three

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

in categories that included Best Direction, Best Musical Scoring, and Best Screenwriting. The nominees were Jason Groh for Best Direction, John Welsman for Best Musical Scoring, and Steve Westren for Best Screenwriting. Ultimately, Steve Westren won the award. This show aired on

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

(first on the programming blocks on

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and

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on October 4, 2007, and the network on October 6 and continued until July 25, 2020.

Cast and characters

* Rabbit (voiced by Peter Oldring) is a kind and sharing rabbit who gets into all types of situations. He comes up with simple inventions (made out of simple things like leaves and branches) often to help a friend in need. He is fun-loving and enthusiastic. * Mouse (voiced by Richard Binsley) is a loving and sharing mouse who is Rabbit's sidekick and also gets into situations which fit him and Rabbit. He is also aquaphobic, which means he doesn't like water or swimming. He breaks the fourth wall in every episode. * Hazel (voiced by

Denise Oliver Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters (in animation, video games, puppet shows, radio, audiobook, audio books, amusement rides, computer programs, etc.) This is a list of Canadian voice actors/actresses notable for ...

) is an acorn-loving squirrel who tends to be very busy a lot. She is seen spending time dealing with her acorns. Similar to Mouse, she doesn't like swimming, or else she's a squirrel with a wet tail. * Thunder (voiced by Jeremy Harris) is a shy, quiet and obese rhinoceros who tends to be a bit "slower" than the others, but is cheerful and loves learning new things. His heart is as huge as he is. He is air-headed and clumsy, but he is very kindhearted and is friendly to everyone else. * Jasper (voiced by Milton Barnes) is a crocodile who loves fishing. When the others need help, they usually go to him. He seems to be the most mature and knows many things the others don't. When the others need to know something, they often go to him for sage advice. * The Gibble Goose Girls are a quartet of goslings that go and do everything together. Their names are Coral (voiced by Isabel de Carteret), Amber (voiced by Hannah Endicott-Douglas), Jade (voiced by Nissae Isen) and Pearl (voiced by Camden Angelis). They always stick together, and are rarely seen alone. They look, act, and even sound the same. They are inseparable. None of the girls can actually fly because they are too young. * Edweena (voiced by Stacey DePass) is an elephant who acts like everybody's big sister. Similar to Thunder, she is really nice and has a huge heart. She is a gentle giant who looks out for everyone.

Episodes

All episodes are directed by Jason Groh.

References

External links

*
''My Friend Rabbit''
at the

Big Cartoon Database The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...