Once upon a time there was a mothe . . . who loved her daughter so much, she wanted to make her a wonderful surprise. So she mixed up some dough and cut out a beautiful gingerbread rabbit. But she got the surprise when the rabbit jumped up, ran out the door, and escaped into the forest!

Follow the gingerbread rabbit and the mother as they run through the woods finding adventure, new friends, and the best surprises of all.

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This is the story of how, one by one, a man found himself a family. Almost nowhere in fiction is there a stranger, dearer, or funnier family -- and the life that the members of The Animal Familylive together, there in the wilderness beside the sea, is as extraordinary and as enchanting as the family itself.

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One morning a mother mixes up some dough and cuts out a gingerbread rabbit to surprise her little daughter. But when the mother puts him in to bake, she gets the surprise of her life. The rabbit jumps to the floor, runs to the door, and disappears into the forest!

Fleeing through the forest with the mother close behind, the innocent rabbit gets some surprises of his own. The worst surprise is a "friendly" red animal who says he's a rabbit, too, though he looks just like a fox. The best surprise is a big brown rabbit and a silvery gray one, who live in a cozy cave full of carrots and lettuce -- where they happen to have an extra little bed.

Yes, all's well that ends well. The gingerbread rabbit finds himself a happy home, and the mother finds an even better way to surprise her daughter.

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There was once a little brown bat who couldn't sleep days-he kept waking up and looking at the world. Before long he began to see things differently from the other bats, who from dawn to sunset never opened their eyes. The Bat-Poet is the story of how he tried to make the other bats see the world his way.

Here in The Bat-Poet are the bat's own poems and the bat's own world: the owl who almost eats him; the mockingbird whose irritable genius almost overpowers him; the chipmunk who loves his poems, and the bats who can't make beads or tails of them; the cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, and sparrows who fly in and out of Randall Jarrell's funny, lovable, truthful fable.

Best Illustrated Children's Books 1964 (NYT)
Year's Best Juveniles 1964 (NYT)...