A Hopeful Message for the New Year: “The Rabbit Listened” by Cori Doerrfeld

Initial Episode

• Character: A little boy named Taylor
• Setting: Taylor inside/outside during the day
• Note: The first sentence in the book is “One day Taylor decided to build something.” The word “decided” is a planning word. Under the title on the title page, the illustration of Taylor is seen pushing a box (of blocks) showing that the decision (plan) was made to create something new, special and amazing (a building blocks structure)! We then, have to infer the KICK OFF, FEELINGS and MENTAL STATE.
• Kick-Off: [Taylor had time to play and things to play with.]
• Feeling: [happy and creative]
• MENTAL STATES: [Taylor THINKS about and IMAGINES something he could build.]
• Plan: To build a block structure.
• Attempt: Opens the cardboard box
• Attempt: Takes the wooden blocks out
• Attempt: Builds a tall, elaborate wooden structure
• Direct Consequence: The structure is new, special and amazing!
• Resolution: Taylor is so proud.

This is the end of this initial “Ho-Hum Day.” Building this structure was Taylor’s expectation for his play time and it happened!

Episode #2

Notes:

Since there are animals visiting, most children think that maybe Taylor was outside in his yard. Taylor was building a new and special structure with blocks of varying shapes as the story begins with the above episode.

This book is wonderful for narrative development and social/emotional growth that grows out of the language of problem solving. We focus on the animals and the solutions they offer. We then focus on a rabbit.

Looking at this text as a tool for social/emotional development as interventionists, we should look at the illustrations as a focus. Much is to be said for the boy and the blocks illustration remaining stable throughout the book as different animals come into the illustration with their solution to Taylor’s problem…each from his/her OWN perspective. Thus the setting here is “more than a time and a place,” as Maryellen always says. This time, the setting IS an illustration of the kick-off and its aftermath. In this sense, it is an integral setting, one that is unique to the moment and the focus of the action. The book is about the problem (kick-off) Taylor faces due to no fault of his own and how he attempts to deal with it.

• SAME Character and Setting as above.
• Kick-Off: As Taylor finishes the new and special structure, a flock of birds suddenly came “out of nowhere” and destroyed the structure!

Since the author wrote the book after several of her friends went through difficult times in their lives, the Kick-Off is part of the integral setting to be discussed. All that the author wrote about the flock of birds descent was, “But then, out of nowhere…things came crashing down.” This is a four-page spread for discussion. What is happening? Nowhere does the author/illustrator mention her illustration of the birds as a force. It is important to verbalize what is happening. Yes, it is about destruction of blocks but the flock represents a devastating force. The destruction caused by the flock, of course, is the visual metaphor for other types of Kick-Offs/Initiating Events that may happen in life. Think about how this relates to the whole of 2020; fires, tornados, personal losses such as accidents, familial loss such as a death or a divorce, school closures, illnesses, wars, and of course, COVID19.

• Feeling: Taylor is afraid, sad, and discouraged at the same time. He is afraid/terrified when the birds suddenly descend on his project and sad/devastated as he surveys the destruction. He is discouraged as he thinks about how he would ever re-build something as magnificent. Notice the body language as he gradually curls up within himself.
• Taylor does not have a Plan. He is depicted scrunched into a ball holding his legs with his arms. He feels very small. Children could imitate the body language. Notice his eyebrows/facial expression. He has no where to go. He, himself, is not able to do anything about what happened.

Episode #3

• Character: Taylor and the animals listed above (absent the flock of birds)
• Setting: as above but the scene is destruction of the block structure and a sad little boy
• Kick-Off: A sequence of animals see the boy’s sadness and the devastation.
• Feeling: Each animal feels empathy, or at least sympathy for the boy. (Sympathy and empathy have different meanings but many students need to be taught the difference.)
• Plan: The animals try to help the boy to feel better about the situation. Each expresses his/her condolences. Thus, each animal has a plan (want) to help Taylor improve his situation and be happy.

The following are the ATTEMPTS to carry out the plan by each of the animals. Each attempt has a reaction on the part of Taylor and are in themselves little Reactive Sequences. (A Reactive Sequence is a response to a Kick-Off and is Stage 3 in the narrative development sequence.) Children may have cards with BUT and SO written on them and hold these cohesive tie words up as they—the children—formulate sentences and talk about each animal’s attempt to solve Taylor’s problem.

• Chicken wants to talk about it BUT the boy didn’t feel like talking SO the chicken left
• Bear (huge in size) notes that the boy must feel angry and wants to shout about what happened BUT the boy didn’t feel like shouting SO the bear left (It looks as if the boy was afraid of the bear.)
• Elephant wanted to fix the situation be remembering where each block went and reassemble BUT the boy did not feel like remembering SO the elephant left. (Elephants like to remember!)
• Hyena wanted to laugh about it BUT…SO…. (One must teach about the sound that a hyena makes, for this to make sense)
• Ostrich wants to hide and pretend nothing happened…BUT…SO….(One must teach the habits of an ostrich for this to make sense)
• Kangaroo and its Joey want to use the mama kangaroo’s pouch to pick up all the pieces….BUT…SO (One must teach about marsupial pouches!)
• Snake wants to knock down someone else’s structure with its powerful body…BUT…SO
• Direct Consequence: Taylor refused all the animals’ offers, and they all left.
• Resolution: The boy is still sad and alone. The animals are distressed. They probably feel that they tried to help but couldn’t. Their plans did not work.

Episode #4

• Character: Taylor, looking sad and alone. He has hidden his head even more (withdrawing into himself). A rabbit.
• Setting: The devastation. Characters are in the midst of the devastation: the integral setting.
  An integral setting is where the plot is brought about within the particular setting itself. The characters, such as Taylor, within an integral setting do not control their “world.” There are ever changing forces outside of their control acting upon the setting, such as the flock of birds, the appearance of all the animals, and even the inner turmoil that Taylor experiences.
• Kick-Off: The kick-off for the rabbit occurred before that of the little boy Taylor. The rabbit noticed the boy’s sadness as did the other animals before him.
• Feeling: This kick-off gave rise to a feeling of sympathy/empathy on the rabbit’s part.
• Plan: The rabbit wanted to perhaps help the boy to cope.
• Note: The word “notice,” a mental state verb, is used in the text in regard to the rabbit’s presence.
• Attempt: The rabbit moved closer and closer to the side of Taylor. They sat in silence.
• Direct Consequence: As a result, Taylor noticed the warm, calming and healing presence of another who is sitting with him in silence…just listening.
• Resolution: Taylor began to unroll his body. We see him hugging the rabbit. He asks the rabbit to stay with him. The rabbit has made him feel calm. This calmness is a kick-off for Taylor who is ready to express himself because he has an empathetic listener.

Episode #5

• Character: Taylor and the Rabbit
• Setting: The aftermath of the devastation, when all seems dark.
• Kick-Off: Taylor notices the warm, quiet presence of the rabbit.
• Feeling: Taylor is calm.
• Plan: Taylor is ready to do something about the devastation. He will be helped by willing listener.
• (Note that the following attempts are everything that the other animals told him to do…he was not ready at the time they came to him with their solutions…they hadn’t listened.)
• Attempt: The rabbit listened as Taylor TALKED (Taylor told the story)
• Attempt: The rabbit listened as Taylor SHOUTED (Taylor showed emotion/feeling)
• Attempt: The rabbit listened as Taylor REMEMBERED and LAUGHED (Taylor is thinking using a mental state verb and a feeling)
• Attempt: The rabbit listened as Taylor talked and showed him how he planned to hide
• Attempt: The rabbit listened as Taylor talked and showed him how he planned to throw everything away
• Attempt: The rabbit listened as Taylor talked and showed him how he planned to ruin things for someone else (Notice the flock of birds in the background.)
• Direct Consequence: The rabbit listened and never left…finally he listened to Taylor’s plan to build again.
• Resolution: Taylor is ready: “I can’t wait,” Taylor said. It’s going to be amazing.

Notice the same configuration of blocks is on the floor in the foreground. The vision is in the distance surrounded by points of light reflecting a promising future structure…bigger than before!