Carrot Tops and Cotton Tails

A disturbing fable which explains why vegetables never talk and why no carrot is ever safe from rabbits. It all goes back to an age-old quarrel in which the rabbits, goaded beyond endurance by the taunts of the carrots, '. . .why do you have such silly ears', turn upon them in a frenzy of veggiecide. This is a very interesting book with several worrying sub-texts. The rabbits are dressed in puritan garb and the carrots have 'feathers' on their heads and are plainly red. Is this, then, a fable about the relationships between the early American settlers and the native peoples? Does it suggest the natives brought their destruction upon themselves? Is the message, perhaps, that murder is justified as long as the provocation is enough? Should we believe all-out war (in which even the innocent turnips are slaughtered) is a fit punishment for expressing an opinion? Or does the story teach that only by keeping one's opinions underground and allowing oneself to be walked over and chopped down (like the grass) can one obtain virtue? There's much to make the reader uneasy in this book.