"Good Both Going and Coming Back": Rabbit and the Motorbike by Kate Hoefler

Rabbit lived in a quiet field of wheat that he never left--not even once--even though there was a road. And even though he dreamed that he did every night.

But Rabbit has a friend, Dog, who has a motorbike and once followed that road everywhere, where he saw many wonderful things.

He loved telling Rabbit about the places he'd felt most alive.

Dog made Rabbit feel that he had been with him in all those places. But one day Dog was gone, leaving Rabbit with only remembered stories and his motorbike.

For a long time Rabbit stays home, but when he looks at the motorbike and remembers Dog's stories he realizes that he, too, can now go anywhere he wants as Dog did. Still, Rabbit is timid.

Yet one day Rabbit decides to ride the motorbike--

Just down the road....But roads are long.

Rabbit forgot that.

Like all roads, Rabbit's road is connected to all the roads in the world and he saw much of it--giant redwoods, the ocean, and the great desert....

And Rabbit felt Dog right there with him.

And full of stories that are his own, Rabbit returns and finds a young friend to share them with, in Kate Hoefler's Rabbit and the Motorbike: (Books about Friendship, Inspirational Books for Kids, Children's Adventure Books, Children's Emotion Books) (Chronicle Books, 2019). This is a quiet  book with beautiful illustrations, a layered metaphoric story about the courage to discover the world and yourself, well and simply told. Says Kirkus in their starred reviews, "Exhilarating... Graceful text and evocative illustrations combine in this story about ... facing fears and trying something new."