The Bunny Who Forgot to Close the Door

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

The Bunny Who Forgot to Close the Door

Written by: Yaakob Shavit / Illustrated by: Jenny Meilichov / Publisher: Sifriat Poalim

Distribution: November 2020

After cooking soup for all his friends, rabbit forgets to close the door and the poor thing catches cold. What will his friends do when they hear that rabbit is sick? The story takes as its starting point the end of a well-known Israeli children’s song to touch gently on hospitality, visiting the ill, and friendship.

Family Activities

Good friends and neighbors warm our hearts in the smallest, everyday moments. They make us happy, support us, and help us in our time of need. Just like the little bunny, a good and generous friend, whose friends help when he catches a cold.

Classroom Activities

Video

Dear Parents,

Supportive relationships are important at any age and all times. The sages in the Mishna certainly thought so when they discussed what a person should choose in life, and each had their own answer to this question:

Rabbi Yehoshua says: A good friend

Rabbi Yosey says: A good neighbor

[Mishna, Ethics of the Fathers, 2:9]

We often seek help from our good friends and neighbors: they reach out to us if we fall, give us good advice, and knock on our doors holding delicious, comforting food. How do we help our friends? And our neighbors? How can we show them we care about them?

פעילות בחיק המשפחה

A childhood song – The Little Bunny [HaShafan HaKatan] This book was inspired by the well-known children's song The Little Bunny [HaShafan HaKatan] by Binyamin Caspi. You may want to ask your child which children's song this story reminds them of, and then sing and dance together. Do you have any other favorite children's songs? You could create a family songbook, and select one to sing together from time to time. You too may be inspired to write a story about it.
Where are you in this story? Reading both words and illustrations – You may enjoy taking turns reading this book to one another: you can read the words to your child, and then have them tell you the story using the illustrations. Our table – draw an empty table and choose who to invite over: it can be family and friends, real or imaginary, favorite toys, or characters in books. What would you serve your guests? What do you think would happen when they all meet one another?
Inviting people round Having a friend visit us is exciting. You may want to prepare for the visit together and discuss how to welcome this friend, how to pass the time together when they get here, and what to do if each of you prefers to do something else.
Kind words in our family The bunny's friends thank him, and he uses kind words when speaking to them, like "please", "so glad you came over", and "bon appetit!". When you sit together for a family meal, you could take turns saying kind words to each other: the first begins by giving the one on their right a compliment; the second compliments the third, and so on. The compliment can be about something nice they had done, a good quality they have, having behaved pleasantly, or any other positive thing you can think of. If you look for it, you'll be sure to find it…