Velveteen Rabbit (Order No. 6511)

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Summary: The best story to read to children
Review: I remember having this story read to me as a child. I couldn't believe what the poor rabbit went through and was excited to hear the story time after time. Now that I am a mother (my son is now 6) I made sure to buy him the book for his last birthday. He was excited to listen to the story and decided he wanted a velveteen rabbit just like the story. This is definitely a story that has children fixed to every word and picture.

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Summary: Donna Green's illustrations are exquisite.
Review: Donna Green's illustrations are exquisite

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Summary: The most inspirational story that I've ever read.
Review: This is a heartwarming story about a toy rabbit filled with sawdust that wants to be real. He realizes what the meaning of "real" is when his owner, a young boy, gives him the answer for which he searches. My wife bought this book for me last month. I missed it as a child. I've learned the lesson in this book in traditional ways, by trial and error. I would have loved to have this treasure as a child and thank my beautiful wife, Lori, for giving it to me, now. Only real love has any meaning or longevity, at all. I ask you readers to not pass up this gem of a book. It is a must for children and adults alike.

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Summary: good
Review: a good book to read for kids of all ages. pictures are great to

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Summary: A very very special book
Review: I can't say enough about how special this book is. Must be given to every child by someone who loves them very much.

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Summary: Excellent value lesson for young and old alike.
Review: This moving story touched on many emotions. Without the fanfare and wide scenes of OZ, Margary Williams has created a world no larger than a young boy's bedroom and back yard, a world in which cosmic truths and values exist and are learned by a small toy rabbit. Starting with the feeling of being "less than," and growing toward the understanding of what is Real, I re-experienced my own early feelings and inquisitiveness. Concepts of love, loyalty, desire, along with the value of a tear and the awareness that deep change is a gradual thing are only a few of the things that were refreshed in me. This story removed much of the unconscious callousness with which I had been viewing the world. Re-reading or simply remembering the story keeps me in touch with some basics I'd lost along the way. Thank you, Margary, thank you.

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Summary: Beautifully Illustrated
Review: I opened this book to a page of wonderment. Receiving goose bumps from my head to my toes, being transfixed by the pure beauty of the picture. The illistration dipicts a fairy filled with compassion gazing at the veleteen rabbit. He has a tear glistening from his eye. My eyes filled with tears at the ternderness which touched me.She offers such hope and love at his most lost moment. The story is a classic and is a very moving tale, but it is the emotions of the pictures which captured my heart

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Summary: An extremely touching book
Review: This book is a simple work of art. Its beauty in itself is virtually indescribable. When I was little, it was my favorite book. In fact, I've had it ever since I was born. It is about a boy who owns a stuffed rabbit, and longs for it to be real. Eventually, because he loved the rabbit so much, his wish was granted. The book is so well written that it brings tears to my eyes almost every time I read it. It is definitely one of my all-time favorites.

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Summary: Simply an amazing book.
Review: The Velveteen Rabbit was my first lesson in love. A boy's unconditional love of his velveteen "bunny" shows us the magical and transformative power of love. Margery Williams teaches us compassion, and shows us beauty in places we might not have thought to look. As a child, I believed that if I loved all the fur off my own bunny, he, too would become real. I haven't seen him yet, but I'm still looking.

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Summary: Little rabbit in the woods
Review: Color me a tiny bit surprised. A tiny bit. In remembering the story of "The Velveteen Rabbit" I had placed it somewhere on par with syrupy sappy stories like "The Giving Tree" or "Love You Forever". I had believed for quite some time that this book was an old but nonetheless overly sentimental tale that even the most dewey-eyed of youngsters would have some difficulty swallowing. Then I reread it recently and I found that I was not correct in all of my assumptions. Yes, "The Velveteen Rabbit" has its flaws. It is prone to a couple ooey-gooey moments here and there, but on the whole it is a strong well-written work. This is not a book that has earned its title as one of the best known and beloved works of fiction for children lightly.

All children wish that their toys were real and could have feelings like the rest of us. This kind of desire is what has spawned everything from the movie "Toy Story" to the classic Newbery Award winning book, "Hitty: Her First 100 Years". In the case of "The Velveteen Rabbit", this wish is taken to an entirely different level. In the beginning, a boy is given a fluffy stuffed rabbit made of softest velveteen. The rabbit is told by an old skin horse about the wonders of one day becoming real, and it becomes the rabbit's deepest wish. As the boy grows to love the rabbit and wear him down, the rabbit feels that he has indeed grown real. One day the boy comes down with scarlet fever and it is necessary to burn the rabbit along with all his other toys. Fortunately, the rabbit is saved by a magic fairy that turns him into a real rabbit. A little time later the boy is out playing when he sees a rabbit that looks just like the old toy he used to own, little knowing that his toy has come back briefly to bid him one last look.

I'm particularly attached to the editions of this tale that are accompanied by Michael Hague's illustrations. Very popular in the 1980s, Hague has the ability to draw illustrations that are at once touching and at the same time a little realistic. His pictures are filled with little touches and details that clever eyes might enjoy locating. For example, a page displaying the velveteen rabbit and other toys shows a small frog toy looking very much like the Frog character from Hague's version of "Wind in the Willows". On the bookshelf sits his edition of "The Wizard of Oz", easily identifiable by its spine. As for the characters in the pictures, they are delightful. The rabbit grows floppier and more raggedy as the book goes on (not suprising when the boy enjoys dragging it about by one ear). The boy himself is a ruddy faced youth, as apt to tease the bunny as he is to lavish it with love and affection. Hague has a way with light and color that make these pictures virtually leap off of their pages, and the result is a beautiful and elegant series of prints.

I am pleased to report that "The Velveteen Rabbit" is just as important today as it has ever been. This beautiful tale should always be accompanied by beautiful pictures, and so we are fortunate that Michael Hague lent it his skills. I have no doubt that your children will be entranced by this tale. I have even less doubt that you will find something in it yourself to make you pause and think over. Simple and eloquent.