My parents first read me this tragic tale of a sad bunny who endures Christmas Eve alone when I was about four years old, and I never forgot it. Its ability to emotionally move the reader isn’t just due to its profoundly sad subject matter; the language is simple, the tone is childlike, and the messages are clear. There are plenty of ghost stories in the world, but I’ve honestly experienced so few that are as haunting as this little masterpiece.

This is the original hardcover edition–the one from which my parents read me “Barrington Bunny.”

“Barrington Bunny” appears in Martin Bell’s collection The Way of the Wolf: Stories, poems, songs and thoughts on the parables of Jesus, which was originally published in 1970 by Seabury Press. You can purchase the most recent edition of The Way of the Wolf inexpensively at Amazon here.