A new children’s book, Seven Lucky Bunnies and the Magic Muffin Dance, was released in November as a fundraiser for the Berryville Public Library building fund. Authored by local writer Cheri White and illustrated by former Eureka resident Christina Smith, this charming tale of seven bunnies trying to help their community also contains a music CD and a tasty recipe for muffins. But the magic? That’s in the story of how this tale even went to print.
It involves a picture, “Seven Lucky Rabbits and the Magic Muffin Dance” drawn in 1990 by Smith; a print of the picture given to local Amrit Knaus in 1992; a story written 25 years ago by local Catherine (Raphael) Freeman; a song, “The Magic Muffin Dance,” written by a Kansas pediatric intensive care nurse in the early 2000s; a 2007 online post of those lyrics by a blogger called Ahistoricality; and Christina Smith’s 2010 post on Ahistoricality’s blog.
“It’s almost like one of those Hallmark movies in which random connections and unexpected clues work together so easily to solve a problem that you think, ‘Oh sure, that happened,’” White said. “But, in this case, it did happen, every time.
“In 1996 Amrit Knaus gave me her framed copy of the “Seven Lucky Rabbits” picture to hold when she went to a temporary job in Montana. Over time, I searched online for the picture’s title, thinking it was a children’s book, but found nothing. In 2020, the Friends of the Berryville Library approved my idea of writing a book to raise funds for the new building. This April, I came across the rabbit picture again and decided if that picture wasn’t from a children’s book, it should be.”
So, like Alice in Wonderland, White jumped right down the rabbit hole.
“First, I had to make absolutely sure no copyrights existed,” White said. “To my shock, Google found something. In 2007 a blogger called “Ahistoricality” had posted lyrics to “The Magic Muffin Dance,” which his friend, Christy Simpson, wrote and recorded based on a picture called “Seven Lucky Rabbits” she had seen at an art fair. Now not only did I want to find the artist, but I also wanted those lyrics! Unfortunately, the blog was no longer functioning, but divine providence was. As I went to exit the page, my eye caught a post from 2010 that made my heart pound: “I am the artist who drew that picture,” it read, followed by a website link!
On April 20, 2021, White clicked that 2010 hyperlink, emailed artist Christina Smith from her website, and held her breath. White said Smith was gracious enough to reply, and the game was afoot.
“It turned out she herself had framed and given Amrit the picture I had, and she’d been living only streets away but we’d never met,” White said. “After learning about our book project Christina eventually felt drawn to illustrate the book and donated her time and talent to the project.”
Although, at first, Smith was a bit dubious.
“Well, I got sucked in,” Smith said. “Illustrating the Seven Lucky Bunnies was a radical departure from my norm and it’s going to be hard to go back to ‘reality’ after this. Giving these bunnies character and purpose, cooking up details while they cook muffins… all of this was so much fun! I’m excited about sharing the joy and magic and delighted that I could play a part in raising funds for the ‘Bunnyville’ library.”
One of Smith’s friends had written a story about the bunnies 25 years ago, but she’d lost touch. It turned out White knew and contacted that friend, Catherine Freeman, who graciously allowed White to steal a scene from Freeman’s original typewritten pages.
While looking for songwriter Christy Simpson, White and Smith stumbled on links that took them to folks in various states who wanted to help and provided snippets of information, only to find Simpson had died in 2007. But all was not lost. White eventually found an email for Ahistoricality on a page Christina had downloaded and printed out in 2010. Ahistoricality replied with an old email address for Simpson’s partner and estate executor, Boda Klenke, and it worked, too. After a few exchanges, Klenke not only sent Christy’s inspiring biography and permission to use the lyrics but had Simpson’s recording of “The Magic Muffin Dance” and another of her children’s songs put on 200 CDs which she paid for and sent to White as a contribution to the library.
White said no one involved in the project is taking any payment for their work, so that all funds generated can go directly to the library building fund.
“After 31 years, a handful of people in three different states who were strangers to one another, but shared a connection to this picture, donated their time and talent to raise funds for a new library in a town none of them live in,” White said. “That is what makes this a very special book.”
Along with 10 other area artists. Cheri White and illustrator Christina Smith will be signing books at the Story Maker Book Fair at the Eureka Springs Community Center on Saturday, Dec. 4 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.