Molly Moves Out (Bodley Beginners)

I was lucky enough to find this one when my littlest boy was only two. It's now served all three of my children with distinction.Much-published Susan Pearson really nailed it with this 1979 title, which places her in the rarefied company of immortal children's authors like Margaret Wise Brown, Lois Lenski and VH Drummond. At three chapters and 64 pages, this one is a really long story for toddlers, but one that they can enjoy until much older.Writing with beautiful wit and rhythm, and boosted by the winsome bunny illustrations of Steven Kellogg, Pearson covers off many childhood fears and preoccupations, meanwhile leaving you with a raft of riffs and catchphrases that will find their way into many childhood conversations.After numerous artful but failed attempts to distract her destructive little brothers (four) and little sisters (three), Molly memorably declares, "Ten rabbits living in one house is nine rabbits too many for me."Striking out to her own bachelor pad just across the meadow, Molly gently acquires a lasting education about the true nature of honesty, compassion, friendship and family.

Molly, responsible eldest sister of four brothers and three sisters, finds life at home intolerable (sister Mary takes her clocks apart, Kathryn borrows her shells and Max smells like dirty nappies).Eventually Molly realises it is time to leave the nest, and with some assistance from her parents she packs her things and moves into a home of her own. But sometimes even the best solutions to life's problems need to be worked on, and Molly embarks on a journey to adulthood that every rabbit must make in the end.