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Border & Immigration

Pancho The Rabbit: An Allegory For Children About Crossing The Dangerous Border

By John Rosman / Digital Editor, KPBS
Published April 8, 2013 at 11:09 AM PDT
This story was published more than 11 years ago.
In this allegorical picture book, a young rabbit sets out to find his father who went north. Author Duncan Tonatiuh uses Pancho to tell the story of thousands of families crossing the border. Credit: Duncan Tonatiuh
In this allegorical picture book, a young rabbit sets out to find his father who went north. Author Duncan Tonatiuh uses Pancho to tell the story of thousands of families crossing the border. Credit: Duncan Tonatiuh

Pancho the Rabbit is on a journey. After two years absent, Pancho decides to travel north to find his father who went looking for work in the carrot fields. Along the way he meets a coyote, a seasoned traveler who offers help in exchange for food.

The story is an allegorical picture book, intended to teach young readers — ages 6 to 9 years old— about the hardships and danger migrants face crossing the border.

As the author Duncan Tonatiuh explained to USA Today, the book is not intended to preach, but rather give young kids living in the country illegally a story they can relate to.

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Regardless of the author’s intentions, the book release coincides with fiercely divided political debate on immigration reform. The book will be available May 7, 2013.

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Border & Immigration Immigration
John Rosman
John Rosman is the digital editor for KPBS News. He oversees all news content on KPBS.org and across all digital properties. Prior, John was the social media editor for Fronteras Desk. Before heading south, John was a digital producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting. There he led the flagship radio program Think Out Loud in all aspects of digital media. Working with OPB's cultural website, Arts & Life, he also produced multimedia features. By way of metro Detroit, John is a proud graduate of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism. He has worked as an editor in television and film. But he found his passion for public radio during a long winter, in a lonely hotdog stand. When John's away from the office, you can find him catching up on all the sun he missed in Oregon.
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