Hopping to America: A Rabbit's Tale of a Wedding

Diana Pishner Walker Illustrated by Ashley Teets

Hopping To America: A Rabbit's Tale of A Wedding

by Diana Pishner Walker illustrated by Ashley Teets copyright Š2019 Diana Pishner Walker All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books.

To order additional copies of this book or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 Tel: 304-789-3001 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com www.headlinebooks.com Published by Headline Books Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books ISBN-13: 9781946664457

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018953499

PR I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D STAT E S OF A M E R IC A

This book is dedicated to my husband Mark. I am so thankful for all of the love and support he has given to my writing and my books over the past 5 years. We too have lived “Hoppily Ever After.”

I would like to dedicate this book to my newest grandson, our little miracle “Ace Ervin.” What a blessing to our family!

I would like to honor the memory of Father Charles R. Carroll, who was the presider at my wedding and baptized my first born son at St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church in Anmoore, WV. Thank you to my grandson, Austin Maddox Walker, age 9, for his picture.

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In the hills of the beautiful mountain state of West Virginia lives a family of rabbits who emigrated from the country of Italy. They are the Rieupule family (which means a wild rabbit or wild hare in Italian).

When the Riepule family, Mamma Rosa, Papa Luigi, Joby, Maria, and Annabella came to the United States, they were lucky enough to have Cousin Dominic already living here in West Virginia to help them with their new American life.

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Soon, the Rieupules were living in their own home and Cousin Dominic missed them. He began to miss his girlfriend Sarah even more who was still living in Italy. He wanted Sarah to be here with his family. He wrote her a letter every day.

In his last letter, he asked Sarah to marry him!

He asked her to come to the United States and be his bride.

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Sarah was so excited she wrote back YES!!!

Sarah had lived in Italy her whole life with her parents.

She and Cousin Dominic had been good friends since they were baby bunnies. When Cousin Dominic decided to leave Italy to start a new life in America working in the coal mines Sarah was so sad.

Sarah and her parents, Mamma Ada and Papa Joe, soon arrived in America and immediately wedding plans began.

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Mamma Rosa and Nonna (Grandma) made a list of all of the cookies they were going to bake for the wedding celebration. “We must have many cookies,� they said.

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Papa Luigi and Nonno (Grandpa) had many grapes to be stomped to make the juice to be served at the wedding.

Maria began to practice all of the music she would sing at the wedding and Annabella had daily practices to teach all of the bunnies the Tarantella dance (a southern Italy dance often performed at weddings and family celebrations.)

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The boat from Italy would be arriving in the spring and Dominic wanted everything to be perfect for his bride and her parents.

All of the Rieupule family members stood alongside the boat docks waiting for Cousin Dominic’s new family to arrive. Mamma Rosa said, “OHHH, the last time I saw Sarah she was just a bambino, just beginning to hop around.”

The boat finally arrived. It took such a long time for Sarah and her parents to get to the boat docks. Joby and his sisters were getting quite impatient. Just as Mamma Rosa was handing out carrot snacks, Joby caught a glimpse of the most stunning bunny he had ever seen. When he looked at the “ear to ear” bunny grin on Cousin Dominic’s face, he knew it must be Sarah.

"She's here!" They all cried out. Dominic hugged Sarah and shook hands with Papa Joe. Mamma Ada and Mamma Rosa were already exchanging cookie recipes.

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It was the night before the wedding and the traditional wedding serenade had begun. All of the bunnies in the town walked behind Cousin Dominic, many playing instruments like the accordion, mandolins, and violins. As they got closer to Sarah, Cousin Dominic began singing a very special song he had written for Sarah.

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The moon was quite bright and many stars were shining in the skies above. Neighbors and friends came from everywhere to enjoy the serenade, the music, and all of the Italian dishes made by Mamma Rosa.

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The music suddenly stopped and Cousin Dominic spoke to Papa Joe, “Papa Joe, I love Sarah so very much and I am asking for your blessing to marry her.”

Papa Joe smiled and said, “You are a good man, Dominic. You have a wonderful family here. You are a hard worker and I know you will make my Sarah happy. Yes, you have a blessing to marry her from Mamma Ada and me. You may marry her tomorrow!”

The music began again and all of the bunnies danced in the street.

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Soon Mamma Rosa and Papa Luigi took the bunny children home to rest for tomorrow’s wedding.

The wedding day came. All of the bunnies were in their best bunny clothes: frilly dresses for Maria, Annabella, and Mamma Rosa; suits for Papa Luigi and Joby. Joby did not like wearing a bow tie, but he loved Cousin Dominic and wanted to look his best for his special day.

“Let’s go,” said Papa Luigi and off they hopped to Saint Francis Chapel at the end of the forest. When they arrived, Father Charlie was at the door to greet them, but Cousin Dominic was nowhere to be found.

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You see, as Cousin Dominic was on his way to the chapel through the forest, he heard a strange sound. It sounded like a baby bunny crying. He followed the sound to a tiny basket with a baby girl bunny inside.

Attached to the basket was a note which read PLEASE TAKE GOOD CARE OF BABY BUNNY MARY. What was Cousin Dominic to do?

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He picked up the basket and hopped to the chapel, hiding it under a pew without anyone noticing.

The wedding music began and Cousin Dominic took his place in the front of the chapel waiting for his bride, Sarah.

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The chapel was full of friends and family. The doors to the chapel opened and there stood Sarah, in a white lace dress and a little white veil. She was carrying a bouquet of yellow roses. When Cousin Dominic looked at her, his heart skipped a few beats. She smiled and walked towards him. Happy sniffles were coming from Mamma Rosa and Mamma Ada. 24

Annabella and Maria walked in front of her throwing yellow rose petals and Joby carried a tiny pillow with two gold rings attached to it.

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The chapel became silent. All of the guest bunnies were anxiously awaiting Dominic and Sarah to promise their love one another when all of a sudden baby bunny Mary began to cry again.

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Cousin Dominic said to Sarah, “I promise to make a good life for you and me and baby bunny Mary.” Sarah looked confused as Cousin Dominic pulled out the basket and showed the baby bunny to Sarah. He said, “I found her in the forest with this note.”

Sarah read the note, smiled, and said to Cousin Dominic, “I too promise to love you and Baby Bunny Mary as long as we both shall live.”

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They exchanged the gold rings.

Everyone clapped and started throwing confetti at the happy couple! The celebration began.

Cousin Dominic and Sarah, along with baby bunny Mary, lived HOPPILY ever after.

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Italian Wedding Customs & Traditions There are many customs and traditions when a wedding takes place in an Italian family.

Here are a few: ●● It is very important to bring good luck to the couple. Italians believe that: ◆◆ Before the groom asks the bride to marry him he must first ask her father for his permission or blessing. ◆◆ The night before the wedding, the groom and musicians sing to the bride under her window or balcony. It is called “La Serenata” (the serenade) ◆◆ Guests should not wear the color white to the ceremony. ◆◆ The Groom must pay for the bouquet of flowers. ●● “Bomboniere” (wedding favors) are given to the guests which usually contain an odd number of “confetti” (sugar coated almonds) and a printed ribbon. ●● “La Tarantella” is a dance that is performed to wish the couple good luck. ●● There is always a cookie buffet with traditional Italian wedding cookies and “pizelles.” ●● One of the many Italian phrases heard at a wedding is “Auguri” or best wishes.

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Hopping to America A Rabbit’s Tale of A Wedding tells the story of love across the ocean. Cousin Dominic longs to be with his childhood sweetheart, Sara. It is a story of two families coming together in a new world to share their dreams, their futures, and love for one another. Join the “Riepule” families on this new and exciting adventure from Italy to the United States.

“This book is extremely enjoyable to the tight knit family experiences we had growing up. Brought out some good memories! A wonderful read.”

Dr. Gerard A. Veltri DDS

“Growing up in a loving and caring Italian family taught me ethics, principles and traditions I value today.

Through my Italian grandparents, parents and family, my life has been truly enriched. Diana Pishner Walker captures the essence of one of the most sacred Italian customs, the sacrament of marriage.”

—Roman W. Prezioso, Jr., West Virginia State Senator, 2017 West Virginia Italian Heritage Man of the Year Diana Pishner Walker was born in Clarksburg, WV and is the daughter of the late Louis and Anna Allessio Pishner. She attended Notre Dame High School in Clarksburg, WV and graduated in 1977.

She attended Fairmont State College, Fairmont WV and was a “Fast ForWord” computer aide at East Dale Elementary School. Diana resides in Fairmont, WV with her family. Her Italian roots run deep.

Her maternal grandparents were from San Giovani in Fiore, Province of Cosenza, Italy. Her paternal grandparents were from Caulonia, Reggio Calabria Italy. She is the author of two award winning books, Spaghetti & Meatballs: Growing Up Italian and Hopping to America: A Rabbit's Tale of Immigration. For more information visit www.DianaPishnerWalker.com.

Award-winning author and illustrator Ashley Teets is a 2012 summa cum laude graduate of Alderson-Broaddus College where she earned a B.F.A focusing on visual art with a minor in creative writing. After completing two semesters of graduate work at West Virginia University Ashley continued her graduate study through the Simmons College satellite graduate program at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts. She also holds a Masters in Arts Administration through the University of Kentucky. Ashley is also a portrait artist, muralist and art instructor. For more information visit www.AshleyTeetsIllustration.com.

Hopping To America: A Rabbits Tale of A Wedding

“This is a book for all ages that will most definitely appeal to children, as well as adults. For many years, animals, such as the Riepule family, have told stories through literature. Diana continues this practice of telling her story to the reader through the eyes of bunnies...while promoting a love for reading.”

—Mrs. Donna Metz, Marion County Schools and West Virginia Department of Education