# Help identifying a children's book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430 "2015-10-22T05:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/1 "2015-10-22T05:38:52Z")
I’m trying to locate a children’s book for a friend. She recently suffered a stroke (recovering fairly well), but this is all she could remember of the book: It features a family of rabbits, who live in an underground warren. This is near a road or trail, where horses commonly travel. The horses’ hooves throw up dirt, which falls into the holes of their rabbit warren. The rabbits are upset and possibly scared because when they come home they can’t figure out who is filling up their home with dirt, or why. Would have been a children’s book available in the rural Midwest USA circa 1945 or thereabouts. Anybody recognize this? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/2 "2015-10-22T15:08:35Z")
Could it be Watership Down? The main warren in the book is located at a crossroads of two bridle paths. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/3 "2015-10-22T15:14:38Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Could it be Watership Down? The main warren in the book is located at a crossroads of two bridle paths. Watership Down was published in 1972, according to the [Book of Knowledge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/4 "2015-10-22T15:18:44Z")
Definitely not Watership Down, one of my all-time favorite books. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/5 "2015-10-22T15:22:04Z")
Since this is about a book, let’s move it to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/6 "2015-10-22T16:11:19Z")
Is it\* Rabbit Hill\*? > **[Rabbit Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Hill)** > > Rabbit Hill is a children's novel by Robert Lawson that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1945. In 1954 he wrote a sequel, The Tough Winter. > The story takes place in the countryside near Westport, Connecticut. The animal inhabitants are suffering as the house nearby has been abandoned for several years and the untended garden, the animals' source of food, has withered to nothing. "New Folks" then move into the house: Are they hunters, or friendly gardeners... ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/7 "2015-10-22T22:47:11Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Is it\* Rabbit Hill\*? > > [Rabbit Hill - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Hill) I have been looking and thought _Rabbit Hill_ a possible, but as far as I can see, in this book and in its sequel, _Tough Winter_, There is no mention of a horse. Plenty of other animals including cats and dogs, but no horse. Rabbits are a popular subject for children’s literature. Of course the most famous is Beatrix Potter, but I certainly don’t remember any plot like the one described. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/8 "2015-10-23T13:35:35Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Watership Down was published in 1972, according to the [Book of Knowledge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down). My initial instinct was to check Watership Down, but its publishing date is far too late to be the OP’s book. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/9 "2015-10-23T14:12:43Z")
Fifteen Rabbits, by Salten? It was one of the lesser known books by the same author as Bambi. I read it as a kid and I think there was a scene sort of similar to what you’re describing. I remember it was sad and mawkish for a kids book. My grandmother gave me the book, which was probably circa 1930. ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/10 "2015-10-23T15:57:37Z")
I thought [_Fifteen Rabbits_ by Felix Salten](http://www.amazon.com/Fifteen-Rabbits-Bambis-Classic-Animal/dp/1442487542) too. My mother bought me all kinds of books when I was little and this sounds vaguely familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/11 "2015-11-10T15:09:25Z")
Well? Was it Fifteen Rabbits? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-childrens-book/735430/12 "2015-11-11T06:32:45Z")
Just got the books to her Sunday. Her aide will read them to her and let me know. That does sound like the closest one to what she remembers. Thanks everyone, for the suggestions.