The Rabbits' Rebellion

by Ariel Dorfman, Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

Overview

The story of a mean and narcissistic king is both uproariously funny and distressingly on point, will be enjoyed by children and their parents.

"Rabbits don't exist."

So decrees the new king, the Wolf of all Wolves, after conquering the rabbits' homeland. He refuses to allow even one small, fluffy tail or long, soft ear into his kingdom. He orders the birds to broadcast this message far and wide. And he summons the old monkey to photograph him in his royal finery, performing his royal deeds. But in his darkroom, the monkey sees something strange developing in the photos. Is that a floppy ear? Whose grinning bunny teeth are those? How could it be?

Ariel Dorfman's first children's book, THE RABBITS" REBELLION, is a remarkable and mischievous allegory of truth and justice triumphing over political chicanery. Set in a magical animal kingdom and illustrated by the great Chris Riddell, this is a story that will have children roaring with laughter and parents raising an eyebrow with recognition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609809379
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	01/14/2020
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

ARIEL DORFMAN is the author of many novels, poems, plays, essays, and films, often set in his native South America. His plays have been staged in over a hundred countries and his books translated into more than thirty languages. He has received numerous international prizes, including the Laurence Olivier and the Time Out Awards for best play of the year for Death and the Maiden. His first book, How to Read Donald Duck, which shows the beloved Disney character to be an agent of American cultural imperialism, and which was banned in Chile upon its publication in 1971, was published in English for the first time in Fall 2018. His most recent novel is Darwin's Ghost (Seven Stories Press, 2018). The Rabbits' Rebellion, first published in the 1980s, is Dorfman's only book for children, and is being published in North America now for the first time. A prominent human rights activist, Dorfman lives with his wife Angélica in Chile and Durham, North Carolina, where he is the Walter Hines Page Emeritus Professor of Literature at Duke University. Seven Stories publishes a great number of Dorfman's books in English and Spanish, including the Spanish language edition of Death and the Maiden, La muerte y la doncella.

CHRIS RIDDELL is best known as the author and illustrator of the acclaimed The Edge Chronicles series, written with Paul Stewart. He has illustrated many other books including the award-winning children's book, Pirate Diary, 100 Hugs, and several titles with Neil Gaiman, the most recent of which is Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World. He is also the political cartoonist for the Guardian and Observer newspapers. He lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

"A wickedly funny allegory for today's post-truth era." —Kirkus Reviews

"Uncannily timed ... In prose that speaks volumes, Dorfman's eerily prescient allegorical gem shapes a resounding portrait of power abused and censorship foiled, reinforced by Riddell's droll, spot-on line drawings. A tale for the ages—and for all ages." —Publishers Weekly

"It's near perfect ... a wondrous little volume – immediate and clever enough for a young readership, and so telling it can only invoke a grudging nod of truth (and a smile) from adults." —The Bookbag (UK)

From the Publisher

2019-06-30
A narcissistic Wolf King insists that rabbits don't exist in this allegory.

Originally published in England in 2001 and in North America for the first time with this edition, author/playwright/poet/essayist Dorfman's story speaks clearly today. The book's small trim and the abundant, adroit black-and-white illustrations throughout point to an audience of children. But the story, that of a ruthless, ignorant, vain Wolf King, who, after conquering the "land of the rabbits," announces that rabbits have ceased to exist (even though they haven't), works on a second level as well. On the surface, the story is amusing. Despite the King's insistence that there are no rabbits, the photographs that he has hired an elderly monkey photographer to take in order to record "each important act in my life" ("and all my acts…are supremely important," he states) turn out to have rabbits peeking slyly from the margins. Even as the Wolf King goes to ever crueler lengths to assert his kingly authority and to have grander and tougher-appearing photos of himself circulated, the rabbits in the photos become more numerous and bolder. The exhausted monkey, bullied by the King's counsellor, tries vainly to erase all the rabbits. The adults in the story obey in fear, but the daughter of the elderly monkey speaks the truth about rabbits: "Everybody knows they exist."

A wickedly funny allegory for today's post-truth era. (Fantasy. 4-10)

Kirkus Reviews