Shadrach

This Newbery Honor book, written in 1953, is a humorous, warm story about a young boy from the Netherlands whose dearest wish is to be granted—he will have a rabbit, black if possible. Lessons are learned and an adventure ensues when the beloved rabbit gets lost. DeJong’s deliberately thoughtful and descriptive writing about a time before television and video games is endearing and interesting, offering a needed counterbalance to the fast action, edge-of-your-seat books many kids are used to. Readers will also learn about the culture of the Netherlands during that time period.