Rabbits: Gentle Hearts & Valiant Spirits

By Marie Mead with Nancy LaRoche

This is a beautiful paperback book to add to your rabbit book collection. The pages are glossy, the many photos and drawings are wonderful, and these short stories will grab at your heart strings. What is really nice is that all the stories have happy endings.

Rabbits: Gentle Hearts & Valiant Spirits reveals how each rabbit has his/her own personality and the many things we humans can learn from trying to understand these special critters. Marie Mead has drawn heavily from the experiences of veteran rabbit rescuers to give us a view of what goes on behind the scenes of pet rabbit guardianship.

Meade’s inspiration for the book was her own rabbit, Kali, and how she taught her how to care for her aging father in his last years of life. Many of the stories recount how caring for a needy rabbit was a healing process for the guardian as well as for the rabbit.

In one story a six-month old lop-eared bunny had been the victim of violence and her head was permanently tilted at a 90* angle. She is named Baby Girl. If you cannot buy the book, at least read the story “The Tilted Butterfly” and see the pictures of Baby Girl. It will make your day!

Anyone who reads Rabbits: Gentle Hearts & Valiant Spirits will appreciate what rabbit rescuers do for these precious creatures of God. With so many rabbits being euthanized because no homes can be found for them, with some restaurants continuing to feature rabbit meat on their menus, and with rabbit fur on clothing again becoming popular, it is no wonder why these wonderful rescue folks can experience burn out. This book will help people properly respect rabbit rescue organizations and hopefully support them financially, as well as supporting them with their time as volunteers.

Besides the compelling stories of heartbreak and victory, there is a treasure chest of good, solid information at the end of each story called “About Rabbits”. Many of the best experts on rabbit care were consulted for this book. At the end of the book there are articles on rabbit care and the importance of finding a good veterinarian.

All animal lovers will enjoy Rabbits: Gentle Hearts Valiant Spirits because all animals display a indomitable sense to survive and lead a lively existence in the world God has created. But those of us whose first love in the animal kingdom is rabbits know how human rabbits really are. This book does a great job of bringing out this truth.

Rabbits: Gentle Hearts & Valiant Spirits makes for a great coffee table display. The picture on the cover of a rabbit’s face will alone spark conversations about the wonderful world of house rabbits. This book will go a long way in helping educate the public that rabbits deserve the same respect and protection as do cats and dogs.