Bunnies Don’t Box

About the Book

Merry Bunny loves to play with her bunny friends, but she begins to see differences between them and her. Overwhelmed, she isolates herself until her friend Claire Bear visits. Claire persuades Merry to come to the boxing gym with her to help with their tremors. However, Merry is afraid to box since she is a small animal. Her fears only grow when Wally Wolf growls “bunnies don’t box” at the door of the gym. Merry almost gives up, but Claire convinces her to come inside. Her journey as a boxer and with Wally continues from there. Merry Bunny’s journey echoes the real life experiences of illustrator Mary and her life with Parkinson’s Disease.

About the Author

About the Authors Our mother-daughter writing team has almost 20 years of early childhood education experience between us. Mary O’Donnell, a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, raised five children before becoming a preschool teacher. Mary Claire O’Donnell, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Drexel University, taught elementary school for seven years before becoming a children’s librarian. Mary was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2012. Since 214, our family has worked hard with organizations like the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the American Parkinson’s Disease Association to raise funds and awareness surrounding Parkinson’s Disease. When Mary began boxing therapy with Rock Steady Boxing to help with her Parkinson’s symptoms three years ago, she wanted a way to explain to her six grandchildren why she boxes. She could not find a book in children’s literature to explain this, so we decided to write our own.