27 THE EASTER RABBIT

Little Rabbit sat by the road.

Ray and May came along.

They did not see Little Rabbit.

“Easter is coming soon, ”said May.

“Let us make a nest in the yard.

The Easter Rabbit will see it.

He will leave pretty eggs in it for us.”

Ray said, “Yes, let us make a nest! ”

Away they ran to make the nest.

Little Rabbit ran to his mother.

“I want to be the Easter Rabbit, ”he said.

“What is the Easter Rabbit? ”said his mother.

“The Easter Rabbit puts eggs into nests, ”he said.

“Ray and May are going to make a nest in the yard.

I want to put eggs into it.”

His mother said, “Do not go away!

Ray and May will catch you.”

Mother Rabbit went to the garden.

Then Little Rabbit ran away.

He wanted to find Easter eggs.

Ray and May saw Little Rabbit.

They ran after him.

“Stop, Little Rabbit! ”said Ray.

“Stop! We want you.

Oh, now we have you!

We will keep you in the barn.”

They took Little Rabbit to the barn.

They patted him and patted him.

They gave him leaves for dinner.

Little Rabbit wanted his mother.

Ray said, “The rabbit is not happy.

Let us take him to the yard.

He will put Easter eggs into the nest! ”

They took Little Rabbit to the yard.

Away he ran down the road!

By and by Little Rabbit stopped.

He said, “I will go back to the yard.

I want to make Ray and May happy.

I want to be the Easter Rabbit.

I will look for eggs in the yard.”

Little Rabbit ran back to the yard.

He could not find any eggs there.

Then he looked in the nest.

Can you guess what he saw?

He saw two little kittens!

One kitten was white.

The other kitten was black.

Then he saw the mother cat.

She had a gray kitten in her mouth.

She put it into the nest, too.

Soon May came to the nest.

She was looking for Easter eggs.

“Oh, see the kittens! ”she said.

“Come, Ray! See what is in the nest! ”

Ray ran to look in the nest.

“What pretty kittens! ”he said.

How happy Ray and May were!

Little Rabbit was happy, too.

“The cat is the Easter Rabbit! ”he said.

Then he ran home to his mother.

(Anne Schütze)

Word list

by and by: after some time

Easter: a holiday at which time children look for chocolate eggs

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What did Ray and May make in the in the yard for the Easter Rabbit to leave eggs in?

2) Why did Ray and May keep the little rabbit?

3) How did Little Rabbit feel about staying with Ray and May?

4) What did the children find in the nest?

5) What would you like to find in an Easter nest?

B) Information about the story—Fill in the following information about the story.

1) Characters (who is in the story? )

2) Setting (when and where is the story? )

3) Problem:

4) Solution:

C) True or False? Read the following sentences carefully. Write True or False for each one.

1) _____ Little Rabbit's mother was worried about Little Rabbit.

2) _____ Little Rabbit did not like Ray and May.

3) _____ Little Rabbit did not want to be the Easter Rabbit.

4) _____ Ray was happy because the cat was the Easter Rabbit.

5) _____ The kittens were in the nest.