The Runaway Bunny Puppet Show
By Joyce Gillis – WhatHappensAtGrandmas
We’re having a puppet show after Easter dinner, but this time it wasn’t my idea! The most rewarding moments in a grandma’s life are appeals for a repeat of something fun done in the past. The one that sent me scrambling for today’s feature came from Brielle a few weeks back: “Grandma, are we going to have an Easter play for all of us cousins like we did at Thanksgiving?”
What else was there to say?…..
“Of course we are, you sweet little bunnykins!”
We’re going to perform The Runaway Bunny, the endearing 1942 classic by Margaret Wise Brown who also penned Goodnight Moon.
I sought inspiration via an online search for something light, happy and easily understood by a younger audience, but alas, found not a rabbit hole to tumble into! That, coupled with a serious bout of mental bunny block, led me to reach for a classic child’s book, one with a story suited for telling with a handful of simple paper puppets.
Order book here
We’re going to perform The Runaway Bunny, the endearing 1942 classic by Margaret Wise Brown who also penned Goodnight Moon.
A pair of large cardboard boxes, stacked, taped, cut, and decorated will serve as a puppet theater. Kids will sit behind the screen and manipulate characters mounted on sticks. Parents and young siblings will hear the story of Little Bunny who decided to run away, taunting his ever-patient mother with plans to become “a fish in a trout stream, a crocus in a hidden garden,” and even “a rock up high on a mountain top.” Mother Bunny vows to thwart his escape by doggedly pursuing him as a fisherman, a gardener, a mountain climber and more, until Little Bunny has no choice but to “just stay where I am and be your little bunny
Puppets from left to right:
rock on the mountain top
bird
sailboat
Mother Bunny fishing
blowing wind
Pictured below:
tree
Little Bunny
crocus
Mother Bunny
If you’re not familiar with the book, You Tube narrations abound. This one, by Joyce Gillis is a mom, grandmom and former art teachers. She has been blogging since 2011.Grandma Annii, is my favorite.
he Runaway Bunny tale is also suitable for family Mother’s Day entertainment!
PLEASE NOTE: These original designs, like all blog material, are for personal use only. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. Thank you!
Celebrating 75 years, The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, beloved children’s book author of Goodnight Moon.
“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.”
A little bunny keeps running away from his mother in this imaginary game of hide-and-seek. Children will be profoundly comforted by this lovingly steadfast mother who finds her child every time.
The Runaway Bunny, first published in 1942 and never out of print, has indeed become a classic. Generations of readers have fallen in love with the gentle magic of its reassuring words and loving pictures. Order book here
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND CREATOR – JOYCE GILLIS
Joyce Gillis is a mom, grandmom and former art teacher. She has been blogging since 2011.
