Maria Thwaite lives in Halifax, West Yorkshire, with

her husband, Ian. She took early retirement in 2!

and, after the birth of her "reat nie#e $mmeline,
de#ided to finally %ut %en to %a%er and write a book for
$mmy about the baby bunny stories that had been in
the ba#k of her mind sin#e they were told to her by her
father when she was a #hild.
B A B Y B U N N Y S
F I R S T A D V E N T U R E S
&edi#ation
'or my "reat nie#e, $mmeline (eatri#e )reen.
*nd in memory of my father, +eonard ,awson, whose
baby bunny stories I was told as a #hild were the
ins%iration for this book.
A. M. Th wa i t e
B A B Y B U N N Y S
F I R S T A D V E N T U R E S
-o%yri"ht *. M Thwaite
The ri"ht of *. M. Thwaite to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in a##ordan#e with se#tion .. and ./ of
the -o%yri"ht, &esi"ns and 0atents *#t !1//.
*ll ri"hts reserved. 2o %art of this %ubli#ation may be
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re#ordin", or otherwise, without the %rior %ermission of the
%ublishers.
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%ubli#ation may be liable to #riminal %rose#ution and #ivil #laims
for dama"es.
* -I0 #atalo"ue re#ord for this title is available from the (ritish
+ibrary.
IS(2 1./ !/4156 .7 6
www.austinma#auley.#om
'irst 0ublished 82!49
*ustin Ma#auley 0ublishers +td.
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Chapter 1
Baby Bunny and the Snowman
In a :uiet #orner of the )reen *llotments lived baby
$mmy (unny and her family. Their burrow was near
the lon" wall at the far end of the allotments, under a
very lar"e, thorny bush. The bush was a very safe
%la#e for them to live be#ause of the thorns. In summer
the bush was full of oran"e flowers and it had lots of
red berries in winter. Many #reatures loved the thorny
bush. In summer, the bees "athered the ne#tar from the
flowers, and the birds ate the berries in winter. The
(unny family, and $mmy (unny in %arti#ular, loved
all the visitors to their bush.
The )reen *llotments was like a hu"e "arden s%lit
into s:uares, se%arated by %aths, where the %eo%le of
the lo#al villa"e "rew ve"etables and flowers. $a#h
%erson had one of the s:uares, whi#h was #alled an
allotment. The (unny family loved the allotments
be#ause they had endless su%%lies of food. (ut it was
also a dan"erous %la#e to live. The %eo%le of the
villa"e did not like rabbits takin" their food and would
s#are them away if they were seen.
There were also other animals that lived on the
allotments. There was Mrs 'ieldmouse and her family
and Mervin the mole. (ut the fier#est of all the
#reatures were the 'ox family. $veryone knew that
foxes were bad and that they liked nothin" better than
to s#are the other animals, and rabbits in %arti#ular.
2ow that $mmy (unny was four months old, she
was be#omin" very nosey and wanted to "o out of the
burrow to %lay with her brother $dward. (ut Mummy
(unny knew that the )reen *llotments #ould be very
s#ary, so she was worried about lettin" baby $mmy out
to %lay.
Mummy (unny knew that $mmy;s brother,
$dward, would look after her thou"h. It was now
<anuary, and it had been snowin" heavily durin" the
ni"ht. $arly in the mornin", Mummy (unny had been
out to "ather food for the family. It was a #old, bri"ht
day and the snow s%arkled in the mornin" sun. It was
very :uiet on the )reen *llotments and no one was
about, so Mummy (unny thou"ht that (aby $mmy
#ould have her first adventure. When she "ot home,
she %ut the food away in the #u%board. $dward and
$mmy were =ust havin" their breakfast, $dward was
ex#ited about the snow and wanted to %lay out. $mmy
didn;t know what snow was, but she thou"ht it
sounded lovely and lots of fun.
Mummy (unny told $dward that he #ould "o out to
%lay, and that $mmy #ould "o too. She told him sternly
that he was to look after his sister and to make sure
that she did not "et into any trouble. $dward said that
he would, so Mummy (unny wra%%ed them u%
warmly.
$mmy had her new lila# s#arf and "loves on, the
ones she "ot for -hristmas from Mummy and &addy,
and she was very %roud of them. $mmy was now so
thrilled and ex#ited that she was ho%%in" u% and down.
$dward ran out of the burrow and started to make
snowballs.
$mmy #autiously %o%%ed her %ink nose out of the
door and saw that someone had #overed the )reen
*llotments in a white #ar%et. She tou#hed it with a %aw
and s:uealed be#ause it was #old and s:uishy. Mummy
(unny ex%lained that, be#ause it had been so #old, the
rain had be#ome fro3en and had been made into white
#rystals. Mummy (unny told $mmy she #ould have
fun %layin" with the snow like her brother.
$mmy had be#ome a lot bolder now and lea%t out
of the burrow. She fell ri"ht into the middle of a %ile of
snow with a very bi" %lo%> $mmy #au"ht her breath
but realised that the snow was a soft %la#e to land,
even if it was #old and wet. She brushed the snow from
her "loves and asked $dward what he was doin".
$dward told her that he was "oin" to make a snowman
and said that she #ould hel%. To"ether, they #olle#ted
more snow and $dward showed $mmy how to make it
into a bi" snowball. 'irst she needed to make a small
round snowball with her %aws and then roll it round
and round in the other snow to make a bi""er
snowball. Soon $dward had a lar"e snowball and
$mmy had a smaller one. $dward and $mmy %ushed
the small snowball onto the to% of the lar"er one. It
looked wonderful and $mmy and $dward were
deli"hted. $mmy #alled for her Mummy to #ome and
look. Mummy (unny said that they were very #lever
and she "ave them an old red tartan s#arf to %ut round
the snowman;s ne#k. $mmy and $dward s:uealed with
%leasure and Mummy said that the snowman needed
some eyes, a nose and some arms. She said that they
#ould "et a #arrot for the nose, two (russels s%routs for
the eyes and two twi"s for the arms. $mmy said that
she would "et the #arrot and (russels s%routs be#ause
these were two of her favourite ve"etables at this time
of year. She thou"ht that she #ould eat them
afterwards, and was very ex#ited about that.
$mmy;s Mummy told her that she #ould find the
#arrot and s%routs on the allotment o%%osite their
burrow. This allotment belon"ed to <anet, who Mrs
(unny knew had not been to her allotment for a while.
<anet was a kind lady and did not mind Mrs (unny
takin" a few of her ve"etables. In one #orner of <anet;s
allotment there was a lar"e #om%ost hea% where she
threw all the weeds and old %lants that she did not
want. $ventually these were made into #om%ost that
she used to feed her ve"etables and flowers.
$mmy looked about her and was ama3ed at how
s%arkly and white everythin" was. She saw that there
was a tall wall surroundin" the allotments, and she
#ould see di%s in the snow whi#h her Mummy had told
her were the %athways that #riss?#rossed the
allotments. She #ould see many trees, hed"es, fen#es
and what seemed like hu"e buildin"s. These must be
the huts where the %eo%le who looked after the
allotments lived, she thou"ht. The huts were mu#h,
mu#h bi""er than her burrow and she thou"ht that the
%eo%le who worked on the allotments must be very bi"
indeed. She #ertainly did not want to meet any of
them>
$mmy ho%%ed a#ross the small %ath and s#rambled
throu"h the hole in the wi#ker fen#e, whi#h surrounded
<anet;s allotment. 2o one had been on the allotment
and so the snow looked like a new, s%arkly, fluffy
white blanket. There were a few %aw %rints here and
there and $mmy thou"ht they mi"ht have been made
by Mummy (unny when she was lookin" for food.
She ho%%ed slowly and #arefully around in #ase she
#ame a#ross some dee%er snow. It was hard to tell
where the ve"etables were be#ause of the blanket of
snow.
To find the ve"etables $mmy had to de%end on her
%ink nose, whi#h was very sensitive. She started at the
#orner of the allotment nearest to the fen#e and sniffed
u% and down, u% and down. Whilst she was ho%%in"
about, she felt as thou"h she was bein" wat#hed. She
looked about her but #ould not see anythin", so she
ke%t on lookin" and sniffin". Suddenly her nose
twit#hed @ #arrots> Sure enou"h, she noti#ed a fern?like
leaf sti#kin" throu"h the snow. She tu""ed and tu""ed
at it and out %o%%ed an odd?sha%ed #arrot. $mmy
thou"ht it would be "reat for the snowman;s nose, so
she took it ba#k to the wi#ker fen#e and %ushed it
throu"h the hole. She wri""led throu"h herself and
ski%%ed ba#k to where the snowman and $dward
(unny was. $dward was deli"hted with the #arrot and
rea#hed u% and %ushed it into the snowman;s fa#e.
They both a"reed that it was =ust the ri"ht sha%e for a
nose.
$dward, by this time, had found a sti#k and had
already stu#k it into the side of the snowman. The sti#k
even had some small twi"s %okin" out at the end whi#h
looked like fin"ers. $dward told $mmy to "o and look
for some (russels s%routs, and he would look for
another sti#k. $mmy went ba#k throu"h the hole in the
wi#ker fen#e and was sur%rised to see some new %rints
in the snow, so she looked around but still she #ould
not see anyone.
In the far #orner of the allotment, $mmy noti#ed
some tall sti#ks. )rowin" on the sti#ks were small
round thin"s, whi#h looked like the snowballs that
$dward had made. $mmy was #urious and ho%%ed
slowly over and #arefully sniffed them. To her deli"ht,
she realised that the small snowballs were (russels
s%routs. She #leared the snow away from two of them
with her %aws and saw the lovely "reen ve"etables,
they made her mouth water. She mana"ed to %i#k two,
but they looked so "ood that she thou"ht she would
%i#k another one and eat it. Makin" a snowman was
hun"ry work, she told herself. $mmy %ut the two
(russels s%routs #arefully to one side and settled down
to eat the other one. It was very s#rummy. Whilst
$mmy was en=oyin" her s%rout, she did not noti#e the
two dark eyes wat#hin" her from the #om%ost hea%.
$mmy felt so full afterwards that she laid a"ainst the
(russels s%rout %lant and fell sound aslee%. She
dreamed about the dinin" table in her house. Mummy
(unny was loadin" it u% with deli#ious s%routs for
dinner.
In the #om%ost hea%, the two eyes noti#ed that
$mmy was aslee% and the owner slowly #re%t out and
:uietly #rawled towards her. The eyes were set in a
furry head, whi#h was atta#hed to a furry body and the
body had a lon" tail. The eyes darted here and there,
and the whiskers below the nose twit#hed. The #reature
#re%t nearer and nearer to $mmy and was starin" into
her fa#e when she suddenly woke u% with a start. (oth
of them let out very loud s:ueals.
$mmy was so s#ared and fri"htened, but ho%%ed as
fast as she #ould, sli%%in" and slidin" in the snow,
towards the hole in the wi#ker fen#e. She mana"ed to
s#ramble throu"h the hole, all the time ho%in" that the
s#ary #reature was not followin" her. She dare not look
ba#k to see if it was. $mmy was %antin" and hot by the
time she "ot ba#k to the burrow and ran strai"ht into
Mummy (unny;s arms. The other #reature s%ed ba#k
to the #om%ost hea%. He was also s#ared and he too fell
into his Mummy;s arms. They were both very "lad to
be home.
$mmy told her startled Mummy all about her
adventure and the #reature that had s#ared her. She told
her Mummy about the deli#ious (russels s%rout and of
her dream and how she woke u% suddenly and saw the
fier#e #reature starin" ri"ht into her fa#e with its bla#k,
beady eyes. Mummy (unny asked her what the
#reature looked like. $mmy told her that it had lon"
whiskers, a furry body and a lon" tail. Her Mummy
lau"hed, and told her that it was %robably Mrs
'ieldmouse;s little boy, 'reddy. The field mouse
family lived in the #om%ost hea% and their son 'reddy
was nine months old. $mmy felt so relieved and
thou"ht that 'reddy mi"ht one day be#ome her friend.
Mrs (unny took off $mmy;s s#arf and "loves and
"ave her a bi" #uddle. It was dinner time, and mu#h to
$mmy;s deli"ht there were %lenty of s%routs to eat.
Mummy then #leaned $mmy;s teeth, "ave her a "ood
wash and %ut her to bed. *s Mummy (unny #overed
$mmy u% with her soft duvet, she said that that was
enou"h adventures for a (aby (unny to have for one
day. (aby $mmy a"reed and went :ui#kly to slee%.