The Runaway Bunny is a 1942 picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.

This book is the first in Brown and Hurd's "classic series," which also includes Goodnight Moon and My World.

[2][3] A little bunny tells his mother that he is going to run away, thereby becoming a fish in a "trout stream", a rock on a mountain, a crocus in a hidden garden, a bird, a sailboat, a circus acrobat, and finally a little boy, until he resigns himself to stay where he is and remain her little bunny.

The call and response structure of Brown's text provides an emotionally compelling depiction of a small child's first burst of independence and a mother's affirmation of unconditional love.

[citation needed][6] The Runaway Bunny has been adapted into a concerto for violin, reader and orchestra by the contemporary American composer Glen Roven, with text from the book.