I read this short book on a recent flight home after my iPod died, and I was forced to give up on my audiobook. It’s a classic children’s novel that I am not entirely positive I read as a child.
“When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” (pg. 7)
There’s something so timeless about this tale. I found myself tearing up as I followed the journey of the rabbit (and the little boy). While I never had an item I loved as much as the velveteen rabbit when I was a child, I used to dream about my dolls coming alive.
“…once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” (pg. 8)
The color illustrations of William Nicholson do more than compliment this tale. There were several times I paused on an illustration and became lost it the beauty of its details. That difficult to accomplish considering how short the book actually is.
Book Mentioned:
- Williams, Margery. The Velveteen Rabbit. Bookbyte Digital, 2011. Originally published 1922.eBook. 34 pgs. ISBN 9781613060520. Source: Free download.
4 comments
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June 20, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Jillian ♣
I want to read this.
June 29, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Christina
You should, Jillian! It goes very quickly!
June 29, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Iris
This may sound weird but this book reminds me of the Friend’s episode in which this figures as a gift. I haven’t read this as a child (I seem to have missed all the classics), but I’d like to read it some day. I especially like that you say the illustrations were well done. I love that in children’s books.
June 29, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Christina
I think I missed a lot of the classic children’s books too, Iris. It’s been fun filling in the gaps and figure out which ones I’ll read to my own children (should I ever decide to actually have any, that is). I imagine this might be a great book for when a child reaches the point where a beloved item needs to be retired. Who wouldn’t want their beloved bunny to become real?
Actually, as the daughter of a hunter, I imagine I wouldn’t have been too thrilled with that…