Rosanna Banks has been jotting down ideas and dreaming about the “what can be” in life since she was a 14-year-old filled with the promise of what tomorrow could bring.

She credits her mother and grandmother with planting those seeds, fertilizing her imaginary adventures enriched by many hours in the library and many more hours with her head in a book, as she says, “imagining all the possibilities, because a book can take you away to wherever you've never been and wherever you want to go. And I'd write it all down.”

Thirty years later, the 44-year-old mother of four, wife and, now, children's book author of “Bunny Lessons” sits on the steps of her rural Madison County home, surrounded by notebooks filled with ideas — those possibilities brought on by the vivid imagination swirling in her head, scribbling in notebooks, checking scraps of paper to connect one idea with a thought or plot, a spoken word, before it's lost in the wind. 

Inspiration, she stated, is all around her, fueled by her family, dogs Apollo, Creed and, of course, Rocky — because the family loves the movie, “Rocky.” A myriad of cats dart about. One in particular, Kwob, is especially curious and attentive.

A neighbor's rooster struts over, flaps to the hood of a vehicle and crows for no apparent reason; a young man on a black horse clops by, which sets off the dogs for a moment before they realize he's no threat and settle back into a sleepy haze. Her husband Samuel, a mechanic, grooves to a 70s hit blaring from a radio as he works on a car, the music a fitting soundtrack to the flow and rhythm of her afternoon.

Banks writes it all down.

“Bunny Lessons,” published by Kingdom Trailblazers and available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble, is a tale inspired by her children, the four bunnies in her book. “Teaching them life's lessons; obey momma and daddy, eat your vegetables, do your homework and your chores. Simple things, yes. But teaching responsibility is always a parent's goal to raising good, productive people,” said Banks. She pauses a moment in thought, Kwob saunters over, sits and stares in that haughty way cats have about them.

Banks grabs a notebook and writes something down.

“Back in the day, I was going through a major depression,” she says. “Trying to get away from an abusive relationship, I moved in with my mom and I'd take my kids to the park. I'd watch them play and there I was again, thinking and imagining. I'd have my notepad with me, and I'd write down bits and pieces. I'd write on anything I could get my hands on, really, putting these ideas and thoughts together.”

Her husband wanders over, teasing that he has an idea he wants to share and sits down next to her. They chat and laugh for a while before he heads back to his task at hand.

Banks begins to write in her notebook. She looks up, staring out across her property dotted with numerous vehicles that her husband uses for parts and reminisces…

“Sitting in that park back then, I watched my children. I watched the animals. I could hear my mom's, my grandma's and God's voices in my head and the lessons they taught me. And really, this is how writing ‘Bunny Lessons' came to be.

“My grandma had a garden, too,” she said. “As a little girl I worked in that garden and didn't even want to be there. But I remember the things it taught me about taking care, responsibility and seeing how work pays off. There're good lessons in working a garden. So, it's lessons passed down from my grandma to my mom to me to my kids. And now, I've passed some of those lessons to others.

“You see, it's just like planting a garden. Those lessons, the thoughts, the… ideas, are the seeds. You nurture those planted seeds with life lessons and watch it grow. Next thing you know, family and friends encourage you, and the garden grows into a story you want to share. And it won't be the last book either. I've got ideas,” Banks smiles, tickled at the possibilities.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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