The Remarkable Rescue At Milkweed Meadow

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Apprehensive by nature, Butternut the rabbit believes the warnings she’s heard from her mother and grandmother. Egg-laying birds are inferior species. Deer bring ticks. Coyotes are terrifying predators. Only rabbits have the smarts to practice strategies for survival and to tell stories that entertain and inspire. In Milkweed Meadow, all species do best when they remain focused on their own kind.

When the bully of the meadow, a jay named Blue, steals a treasure of her burrow and compels her to scale a trellis to retrieve it, Butternut forms an unlikely friendship with an irrepressible robin nestling, Piper, and later with Winsome, a deer fawn whose leg injury is a blow to her vanity. For the first time, the dangerous and fun adventures the friends have make Butternut question her elders’ teachings—and whether holding on to old prejudices truly makes creatures safer and happier.

When the trio discovers creatures in crisis, their compassion is tested: Do they forsake the creatures or attempt the most daring rescue ever to take place in Milkweed Meadow, one that will require the help of multiple species, including the young humans that live in the adjacent house?

With illustrations by 2023 Caldecott Medalist Doug Salati, The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow is a heartwarming novel about courage, compassion, and the power stories have to reveal truths and forge connections.

A sequel, The Perilous Performance at Milkweed Meadow, is coming in 2024!


Praise & Reviews

  • An ALA Notable Book
  • A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Book
  • A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of 2023
  • A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of 2023: Holiday Gift Edition
  • A 2023 Booklist Editors’ Choice

“The sparkling story is both terrifically funny and quietly contemplative, touching on heavy topics with a light hand and heaps of humor.”
—Booklist, *starred review*

“[Butternut’s] action-packed adventures with Piper underline the way that a survivalist mentality can come at the cost of a compassionate, connected, meaningful life.”
—Publishers Weekly, *starred review*

“Witty, engaging, and heartfelt… Read this!”
—Kirkus Reviews, *starred review*

“With the confidence of a maestro, Elaine Dimopoulos breathes vigor and beauty into a tale of a brave and thoughtful young rabbit…. This richly told story is both swift and moving. A chorus of woodland cheer for such a remarkable rescue.”
—Gregory Maguire, best-selling author of the beloved classic Wicked and Cress Watercress

The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow is ideal for a classroom read aloud or a family bedtime story. Butternut, the rabbit narrator, involves young readers directly in the action, teaching them and teasing them all the way to the breathtaking climax. This cast of animal characters and their adventures will live in children’s memories long after the rescue is over.”
—Nicole Shirley, grade 3 teacher and former bookseller


Watch the book trailer featuring Caldecott Medalist Doug Salati’s charming illustrations!
 

 


Discover the inspiration for this story and its cast of animal characters!
 

 


Download The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow Discussion Guide