Starting the New Year with a mission, a former South Florida pre-school teacher is taking a stand against the tech-saturated lives of young children by fueling a love for the written word. Nicola Austin, who has years of experience molding young minds, is venturing into children’s literature with the release of ‘The Rabbit Who Got Away,’ a book aimed to lure kids back to reading. "I feel like today, technology is just taking over our little one's minds,” Austin said in an interview with NBC Miami. "I just want them to fall in love with reading."
Drawing inspiration from a family incident involving her niece and nephew’s distress over their missing pet, rabbit Snowball, the book tells the story of children on a hunt for their lost companion. "Snowball was missing, and they just lost it," said Austin to NBC Miami. "They were like, ‘Oh no, my pet is missing; we need to find it now, mommy,’ and they went on a hunt." Her personal connection to the heart of this story serves as a bridge for kids to wander into the landscape of grand tales and imagination. Austin's background in education has certainly influenced her storytelling, which aims to create narratives that young readers can relate to and learn from.
With the book now available for purchase on platforms such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Austin is striking at the root of a larger issue, the fading interest in reading among children preoccupied with digital screens. The story’s charm lies in its ability to offer a whimsical adventure, one that Austin hopes will leave a lasting impact on its audience. According to a synopsis by BNN Breaking, ‘The Rabbit Who Got Away’ is a magical journey filled with life lessons, framed in a way that is both accessible and engaging for young readers.
Austin’s literary debut goes beyond mere storytelling; it’s an attempt to combat the overwhelming pull of technology and restore the allure of disappearing into a good book. Her focus on fundamentally common scenarios could be a key that unlocks the door to literature for many kids. "This is a book that will take them there,” Austin told NBC Miami, “It will take them on a magical, whimsical adventure." Whether ‘The Rabbit Who Got Away’ manages to captivate its intended audience remains to be seen, but for Austin, and perhaps, for the children who discover her tale, the journey itself is a step toward reviving the love for an age-old friend – the book.
