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The Velveteen Rabbit: The Classic Children's Book
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The Velveteen Rabbit: The Classic Children's Book Hardcover - 1958

by Margery Williams; William Nicholson (Illustrator)

Like the wise Skin Horse in the nursery, Margery Williams understood how toys--and people--become real through the wisdom and experience of love. This reissue of a favorite classic, with the original story and illustrations as they first appeared in 1922, will work magic for all who read it.


About this book

The Velveteen Rabbit, or How Toys Become Real, is the story of a toy rabbit who wants to become real through the love of his owner. The stuffed rabbit is overlooked by the boy whom he is given, the boy preferring to play with more mechanical and sophisticated toys than the simple stuffed rabbit. The rabbit holds onto a story told to him by the oldest and wisest toy in the nursery, the skin horse, about how toys can become real through love. Eventually, the boy becomes attached to the soft doll, but after developing scarlet fever the doctor orders the boy sent away to recover and all his toys and belonging burnt. The rabbit is so sad over his separation from the boy he begins to cry and sheds a real tear - after which the nursery fairy appears to turn him into a real rabbit.

It has been adapted many times into television, film and onto the stage. The National Education Association listed it among the top 100 books for teachers of children in 2007.

Author Margery Williams’ first children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit was published in 1922 by George H. Doran Company in London and has remained in print continuously since, owing to its popularity as a story of the power of enduring love.

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Summary

Once there was a velveteen rabbit who longed to be Real. He was owned by a boy who loved him more and more every day, even when the rabbit's velveteen coat grew old and shabby and worn. Then one day something magical happened, and the rabbit's wish began to come true...

From the publisher

This original, timeless classic has been treasured for generations--this edition has the original story and illustrations from 1922. Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always. This wondrous tale of the velveteen rabbit has delighted readers of all ages with its story of transformation and redemption through a child's unwavering love. At first a brand-new toy, now a threadbare and discarded nursery relic, the velveteen rabbit is saved from peril by a magic fairy who whisks him away to the idyllic world of Rabbitland. There, he becomes ""Real,"" a cherished childhood companion who will be loved for eternity.

First line

THERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid.

From the jacket flap

Nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
Like the Skin Horse, Margery Williams understood how toys--and people--become real through the wisdom and experience of love. This reissue of a favorite classic, with the original story and illustrations as they first appeared in 1922, will work its magic for all who read it.

First Edition Identification

The UK printing and the US printing occurred simultaneously and feature yellow-tan pictorial boards picturing a rabbit and seven chromolithographs by William Nicholson (later issues contained reproductions of these). One of the most coveted children’s books for collectors, copies in a dust jacket often appear for over $5,000, with pristine copies well exceeding $15,000.

Details

  • Title The Velveteen Rabbit: The Classic Children's Book
  • Author Margery Williams; William Nicholson (Illustrator)
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition Reissue
  • Pages 48
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Doubleday Books for Young Readers, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 1958-01-06
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Dust Cover, Illustrated, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780385077255 / 0385077254
  • Weight 0.76 lbs (0.34 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.69 x 7.52 x 0.43 in (24.61 x 19.10 x 1.09 cm)
  • Ages 03 to 07 years
  • Grade levels P - 2
  • Reading level 820
  • Themes
    • Holiday: Easter
    • Religious Orientation: Christian
    • Theometrics: Secular
  • Library of Congress subjects Rabbits, Toys
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 90025339
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Excerpt

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room.  "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"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."

Media reviews

Celebrate the Easter season with The Velveteen Rabbit, one of the most beloved of bunnies, as he celebrates his 75th  anniversary! This special edition, complete with the original story and artwork as they appeared in 1922, remains a timeless classic in children's literature with over 1.5 million copies in print. Ever since its first publication, this wondrous tale of the velveteen rabbit has delighted readers of all ages with its story of wisdom and love. Few other children's books so beautifully capture the spiritual meaning of Easter as does this simple tale of transformation and redemption through a child's unwavering love.

Citations

  • Booklist, 03/15/1997, Page 1246
  • Hornbook Guide to Children, 01/01/1991, Page 0

About the author

MARGERY WILLIAMS was born in London in 1881 and first came to the United States at the age of nine. For the rest of her life, she lived alternately in England and America. Her first novel was published when she was twenty-one, but she turned to writing for children in 1922 with the publication by Doubleday of The Velveteen Rabbit, the best-known of her thirty books for young people. Toward the end of her life, she lived in Greenwich Village in New York City. She died there in 1944. WILLIAM NICHOLSON was born in Newark-on-Trent, England, in 1872. He illustrated several books during his lifetime, including the children's classic The Velveteen Rabbit, and was also a renowned portrait painter. Many of his portraits and still lifes hang today in museums and galleries throughout England. He was knighted in 1936, and died in 1949.
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The Velveteen Rabbit
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The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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ISBN 13
9780385077255
ISBN 10
0385077254
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The Velveteen Rabbit
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The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams; William Nicholson [Illustrator]

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  • Hardcover
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The Velveteen Rabbit
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The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams; William Nicholson [Illustrator]

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ISBN 13
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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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ISBN 13
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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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ISBN 13
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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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  • Hardcover
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ISBN 13
9780385077255
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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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ISBN 13
9780385077255
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The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams

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ISBN 13
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ISBN 10
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