"Of Mice and Men (and Rabbits)" 18"x24" acrylic on canvas John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" appears on the ALA's list of most challenged books of the 21st century. Censors charge the book with 'offensive language', allegedly 'promoting euthanasia' and being 'anti-business'. Dana Ellyn's painting, "Of Mice and Men (and Rabbits)", depicts Lenny (a man of tremendous stature and limited mental abilities) in the moment after he accidentally kills Curley's wife. Throughout the book, Lenny dreams of the day he can tend to rabbits. He is represented in the painting as half man, half rabbit to allude to this love of rabbits - but also to symbolize the innocence of his simple, childlike brain.