Jim Olson

The Reindeer and the Easter Bunny Jim Olson

On the night before Easter, a sudden snowstorm swirls across North America. Looking out a window, three young girls see a brown rabbit leap through drifts, then disappear into the shadows of nearby woods. The girls worry that the Easter Bunny won't be able to deliver Easter baskets to children around the world. But what the girls don't realize is that the brown rabbit is rushing back to a web of tunnels across the road. In fact, these tunnels are the home of the Easter Bunny! The brown rabbit tells Easter Bunny that the storm has shut down roads, trains, planes, and phones everywhere. "You can't go, Easter Bunny," he warns. "What are we going to do?" all the rabbits cry.

Jim Olson, Michigan lawyer and author, wrote this story while finishing work on Michigan's first book on environmental law in 1981. After he read it to his young daughters, he asked them to draw pictures as project for the long, winter months. When he saw their brightly colored drawings, he took the story and pictures to his publisher, and the first limited edition of The Reindeer and the Easter Bunny was published that spring.

Twenty-one years later, he and his daughters-Hallie Wastell, * Katy Bourdon, and Jessica Perez-married with their own families, have teamed up once more to release this new expanded edition ofThe Reindeer and the Easter Bunny, a children's story about how listening in the middle of a crisis just might bring a surprising, magical answer.

*Hallie Olson Wastell passed away from ovarian cancer in 2016. Her children's book, The Thunderstorm Party, was published in 2020 by Mission Point Press. The story and illustrations illuminate the universal experience of a child's first thunderstorm. Available at bookstores, Amazon, or direct from Water Visions Media LLC at info@watervisionsmedia.com. Part of the proceeds support the education women and families about the importance of early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
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