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Comment by 9erdelta | Hacker News Reader

I am pretty sure the rabbit fishing is a reference to "The Runaway Bunny", another one of her books.

That’s correct. It’s an image from “The Runaway Bunny”. The story has the baby rabbit changing shape to get away from the mother, and the mother changing shape to attract/get the baby rabbit. It sounds a bit violent in description, but it’s not when you read it.

So for example the baby turns to a fish, and the mother starts fishing; or —- and this captures the spirit better —- the baby to a climber and the mother to a mountain.

My favorite pages were when the baby turned to a bird to fly away, and the parent became the tree the bird comes home to, and when the baby became a sailboat, and the parent became the wind that blows the boat where it needs to go. Not violent at all!

When you describe that way it actually echoes actual parenting — trying to encourage autonomy while still guiding the child.

This post made me look through the pages of Goodnight Moon, and I noticed that on top of the bookshelf on the left side of the room is a book titled The Runaway Bunny. All of the other books on the shelf have scribbled lines on their covers.

Another somewhat interesting find is that on the nightstand next to the bed sits another book with a discernible title: Goodnight Moon.

Oh, that makes sense. Mystery solved. That makes it a bit less creepy.

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