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Two White Rabbits Hardcover – Picture Book, October 1, 2015

by Jairo Buitrago (Author), Rafael Yockteng (Illustrator), Elisa Amado (Translator)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 40 ratings
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In this moving and timely story, a young child describes what it is like to be a migrant as she and her father travel north toward the US border.

They travel mostly on the roof of a train known as The Beast, but the little girl doesn’t know where they are going. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars. Sometimes she sees soldiers. She sleeps, dreaming that she is always on the move, although sometimes they are forced to stop and her father has to earn more money before they can continue their journey.

As many thousands of people, especially children, in Mexico and Central America continue to make the arduous journey to the US border in search of a better life, this is an important book that shows a young migrant’s perspective.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    4 - 7 years
  2. Print length
    56 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    Kindergarten - 2
  5. Lexile measure
    AD490L
  6. Dimensions
    8.86 x 0.47 x 8.27 inches
  7. Publisher
    Groundwood Books
  8. Publication date
    October 1, 2015
  9. ISBN-10
    1554987415
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1554987412
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 3—A young girl and her father face challenges together as they move from place to place. They travel by foot and by train and are happy to catch a ride with passersby when they can. Sometimes their journey is delayed (or derailed) when they must stop because of soldiers or if father has to earn more money to continue along their way. Told entirely through the sensibility of the child, the narration informs readers that "the people who are taking us don't always take us where we are going." The young girl passes the time by counting the interesting items she sees such as animals, people, clouds, and stars. She is very curious about where they are headed, but never receives an answer to her query. Yet, she is content because she has her daddy and her two white rabbits. This simple, yet poignant picture book beautifully illustrates the life of one migrating family. Set in Central America or Mexico, it shows the arduous journey north to the United States in search of a better life. This book is a great tool for introducing immigration, and can be appreciated on many levels. The digitally created illustrations are detailed and full of expression, telling a story of love, struggle, and determination. VERDICT An important and timely picture book for every library collection.—Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

Review

This beautiful, understated story is extremely important right now; it will resonate with many and open the eyes of children unfamiliar with the experience of immigration. ― Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Groundwood Books (October 1, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 56 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1554987415
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1554987412
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 4 - 7 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ AD490L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ Kindergarten - 2
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.86 x 0.47 x 8.27 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
40 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Local Reader!
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful picture book to build understanding
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
This powerful story about the refugee experience of migrating from Central America to the United States is written, translated, and illustrated by people who understand the struggles and hardships people endure before making a decision to journey to the USA. It is unlike any other book on this topic. Justifiably an award-winner and on many best book lists, Two White Rabbits will stay in your mind - and in your students' thoughts too.
2 people found this helpful
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
5.0 out of 5 stars We stand with immigrants!
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2017
Verified Purchase
I think it's important to teach my children the experiences of others. We live in Texas and we live around immigrants who have worked hard to come here. I want my son and daughter to appreciate their journey and drive to be here.
3 people found this helpful
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intrepid _librarian
4.0 out of 5 stars "Where are we going?" young girl asks
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2015
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Immigration story featuring a father and young daughter. The daughter learns to count as they travel. Place is not clear but most characters look Hispanic and there are Spanish signs so you could assume they are traveling from Central America to the north. Illustrations by Rafael Yockteng are very good in depicting more than the text is sharing.
2 people found this helpful
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Julia Johns
5.0 out of 5 stars The images build empathy
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018
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A must have book on every teacher’s classroom, even High School.
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William L.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2017
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Excellent story and illustrations that shows innocence in the midst of adversity.
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Vamos a Leer
5.0 out of 5 stars their arms spread out like wings as they run down the street with warm ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017
This picture book’s narrative style uniquely reflects the characteristics of many graphic novels, allowing much of the story to be told through its images. Moreover, the illustrations in Two White Rabbits, created with thin, ink-drawn contours and textured, scratchy, digitized cross-hatching, immediately evoke the artistic style of graphic novel illustrations.

This simple yet compelling story narrates the immigrant journey of a young girl and her father as they cross through Central America to come to the United States. Although it is made clear through various context clues—the landscape and geography of the illustrations, big signs written in Spanish, and the phenotypes of the characters—that this is a Central American migration, the family’s country of origin is never specified, nor is their destination. In effect, the story produces a seemingly-generic, non-descript story of immigration, reflecting the all-too-common occurrence of this real-life narrative. As noted by Kirkus Reviews, “In leaving readers with much to wonder about, the book packs the most powerful of punches.” The story expertly captures the white-washing of immigrant narratives, both within literature and the media, as well as through legal and political responses (or lack thereof).

Two White Rabbits focuses on one family amongst the hundreds of thousands who make this perilous journey each year. This immigrant narrative is so common that it cannot be confined to any one family or any one individual; rather, it is lived and experienced by countless families and individuals. This story’s vagueness is one of its most sophisticated strengths, emerging as a poignant critique on human, immigrant and refugee rights. Although immigrants and refugees and, generally speaking, human beings, should never be reduced to mere numbers, identifiable only through saddening statistics, this compelling story reminds us that, lamentably, they often are.

The story begins with a two-page spread of a little girl riding on the shoulders of her father, their arms spread out like wings as they run down the street with warm grins on their faces. The background is completely white, negative space, and instead of seeing a presumed backdrop of a city or town, all we see is the road, the sidewalk, and the girl with her dad. The words read: “When we travel, I count what I see.” The narration is from the first-person perspective of the little girl. On the next page is another two-page spread with no words. The little girl and her father are bent down looking at the ground, where several hens and baby chicks scamper about. The words on the previous page, “I count what I see,” subtly invite readers to count what they see on this wordless spread of images. Young readers could count how many baby chicks they see, how many hens, how many brown hens, how many white hens. This style invites readers to take the time to “read” the illustrations, number what they see, and make detailed observations. The beginning pages immediately set the tone for the book as a whole, letting readers know that the images are crucial for understanding the story. Again, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, this picture book has the hallmarks of a graphic novel, with sparse, vague words that rely heavily on the storytelling ability of the images.

The abundant white, negative space that we see on the first page continues throughout the story. Detailed images stop short, giving way to blank, white nothingness. This visual technique can be seen as a powerful reinforcement of the broader narrative, serving to symbolize the imminent erasure of this family’s experiences.

This pattern continues throughout the rest of the book: sparse words appear on one page, followed by a two-page spread of just images on the next. Not only does this approach contribute to the symbolism and literary poignancy of the story, but it also creates a wonderful exercise in counting, observation, and interpretation for young readers. The deliberate silences of the narrative, and the simplicity of the story line as a whole, grants teachers the opportunity to fill in these blanks with their students through a variety of potential lesson plans and activities: for example, a lesson on immigration narratives and refugee rights (for older students, perhaps); a lesson on the geographical landscapes of Central America (for intermediate students); or a lesson on counting and verbal description (for younger students).

Buitrago dedicates this book to “my dear Adriana/ and the invisible walkers through/ the countries.” The mistreatment of and negligence towards South American immigrants, who are often, in fact, refugees, has stripped them of even more human rights, and rendered them “invisible walkers through countries,” non-identifiable statistics, and, ultimately, a phenomenon in need of urgent attention.

This book is at once simple and complex, generic and diverse, sweet and chilling, all of which contributes to its success. As a whole, it expertly renders difficult topics accessible and enriching for young children, reminding us, through it all, of the amazing power of the unsung heroes in our personal lives.
3 people found this helpful
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Joy Murray
5.0 out of 5 stars A poetic look at the life of a migrant family
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2018
It’s so difficult for settled people to understand the plight of migrants and refugees. In recent times fear of people on the move — looking for work or fleeing war — has seemed to become magnified. There are many aspects to the fear, and it’s easy to fan its flames to the point where we add to the problem in the ways we think we are going to solve it.
It’s a hard thing to understand as adults, much less as children. When children see the news and ask why, what do we say?
In the book Two White Rabbits by Jairo Buitrago and illustrated by Rafael Yockeng, there is not so much an explanation as a brief, poetic accompaniment on the migration of one father and his daughter.
The little girl is traveling with her father, but she doesn’t know where they are going. Her spirit immediately shines forth from the grim roads they travel. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars. She isn’t old enough to worry yet. Her life is what it is.
Both the story and the illustration give room for pause, for thinking, as if we are on the road with them, our concerns for safety somewhat muted by the spirit of the little girl.
This is a subtle, warm and thoughtful book. It doesn’t necessarily clarify the migrant situation, it invites you along for part of the journey. It’s a book I would share with all ages, especially middle-schoolers who may have only a vague understanding of the nature of migration. This book is an excellent homage to empathy. The girl’s spirit is so charming, and her tattered stuffed bunny seems like such a dear friend to her. The two white rabbits that appear as the story closes add even more poignancy to her journey.
Migration has always been a part of human existence, and always fraught with fear and often, horror. But it can also be such a good thing, people sharing culture, sharing knowledge, finding common ground. Two White Rabbits doesn’t try to give easy answers, it only shows us a glimpse of one small family’s journey. It leaves me hungry to know more. And that’s the beginning of finding understanding.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Just as advertised.
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2019
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Just as advertised nothing wrong with it.
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