Reading to your young child is essential to early literacy, language development, and reading readiness. My Friend Rabbit is an easy book for parents to read often to their very young child, as the pictures are vibrant and engaging, and the text is minimal. Read the text with expression, and try the following progression of strategies.

Engaging:
Use your finger to follow the dotted lines along the path of the airplane. Say, "Uh, oh, look at the trouble that followed Rabbit. What happened to the airplane?" Ask, "How would you feel if your friend threw your brand new airplane into a tall tree?"

Predicting:
Point out Mouse's expression. Ask, "What do you think Rabbit's idea is?" Having him predict what happens next is important to comprehension. As Rabbit drags the other animals on the next few pages, have your child name them, and point out how funny it looks for a small animal to be dragging and carrying large animals. When the stacked animals still do not work, ask, "What will Rabbit do now?"

Probing:
As you look at the next page, ask "What do you think is going on?" and then, "Why are the ducklings acting like that?" and then "OH, MY!" as it becomes apparent that the animal stack fell down. Ask, "How can you tell that the animals are not happy?"

Revising:
Finish the story, and decide with your child if there might have been an easier (safer?) way for Rabbit to get the airplane out of the tree. Correct answers are not important.

Following Up:
Engaging her in thinking about the story is the aim of this child reading activity. Encourage her to retell more of the story line on subsequent readings of this book. Your child will demonstrate comprehension if he uses parts of the story in his playtime, stacks things to reach something, and retells the story with understanding. Encourage these things while interacting with your child, reminding her of the story.