103. The Velveteen Rabbit. Margery Williams. Illustrated by William
Nicholson. 1922/2014. Random House. 48 pages. [Source: Review copy] [5 stars] [fantasy, children’s classic]
First sentence: THERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning
he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be;
his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and
his ears were lined with pink sateen.
Premise/plot: Do you know what it is to be real? One little Christmas bunny will learn
this and plenty of other life lessons in Margery Williams’ classic tale
The Velveteen Rabbit.
The Velveteen Rabbit opens with a young boy receiving a rabbit for a
Christmas present. All is lovely for the rabbit that first day. But the
toy is quickly forgotten. He becomes one toy of many, many, many toys.
He’s not exactly special to the boy or the other toys. In fact, I’d say
the other toys bully him a bit. All except for the Skin Horse, the
oldest toy in the nursery. It is this horse that tells the Rabbit all
about being real, what it takes to be real, what it feels like, how it
changes you, etc.
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that
happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just
to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” “Does it
hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was
always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it
happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It
takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who
break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.
Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved
off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very
shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real
you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” “I suppose
you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it,
for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse
only smiled. “The Boy’s Uncle made me Real,” he said. “That was a great
many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It
lasts for always.” (5-8)
My thoughts: The Velveteen Rabbit is one of my favorite Christmas books. I love the
nursery magic. I love the ending. It was originally published in 1922.
The story and illustrations in this edition are original. This is a
beautiful edition of the book. One of the best I’ve seen.
The Velveteen Rabbit was published several years before A.A. Milne’s
Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner. Chances are if you enjoy one,
you’ll enjoy the other.
Do you have a favorite toy-come-to-life fantasy?
© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews
