My name is Leona. Last spring, in April of 2023, when I was in 5th grade. I started a story hour called Reading with the Rabbits to help raise funds to improve the rabbit hutch – aka the Rabbitat – at The Community Farm. I’ve volunteered at The Community Farm animal sanctuary in Arvada,
I love that they are calm and cautious with an intense curiosity. They are so eager to try new and different things and they love interacting with people. Most importantly, they are great listeners.
I started to think, the horses have riders, the goats have Goat Yoga, the donkeys have the Burro Racing team, but what do the bunnies have? I wanted to create something that focused on the rabbits. I thought maybe bunny meditation? No. I don’t want to meditate with strangers; that’s private. Maybe a bunny book club? Too serious and not the demographic I think would most enjoy the rabbits. Then it struck me: Reading with the Rabbits! I could read to younger kids with bunny buddies bringing everyone joy. From there, a beautiful story hour was born. It has been a place for everyone who loves books ( and bunnies) whether you’re five or fifty, everyone is welcome.
I picked out some picture books and recruited some friends and did my very first story hour. Then we did a few more and word of Reading with the Rabbits spread. We were featured on Channel 7 news and won a 7 Everyday Hero Award!
Over the winter, I decided to give Reading with the Rabbits a little break and start thinking about what I wanted from this project and how it could grow and be more inclusive without overwhelming me and my friends.
This summer we restarted the story hour with a few major changes.
I started a YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@
We still perform occasionally at the farm, for parties, classes, and camps. Now we have a standing performance date the third Saturday of every month at the Colorado tap house at 14982 W 69th Ave in Arvada!
I highly recommend you bring your family to our story hours: 9-10:30 am June 15, July 20th, August 17th, and September 21st.
We have also increased the number of readers performing at the story hour. For every Reading with the Rabbit we host an acting workshop for older kids to work on performance skills, such as physical mannerisms, character development, finding the game within the story and other fun improv/acting techniques they might use to read at an upcoming story hour. If they want to, and have permission from parents and authors guest actors might even be able to read a book on the Reading with the Rabbits YouTube channel.
If you’re interested in joining the fun as either a performer or an audience member you can contact us at readingwiththerabbits@
Author: Mile High Mamas
