The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Velveteen Rabbit
Book Review: A very very special book
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough about how special this book is. Must be given to every child by someone who loves them very much.Book Review: An extremely touching book
Summary: 5 Stars
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.Book Review: And then little Johnny shot and killed the rabbit and ate it.
Summary: 3 Stars
Well boys and girls, this is a children's book. It doesn't pretend to be something else. Ergo, I give it a 3 star rating for originality and for staying the course. I found it difficult to believe most children under age 8 would be able to read and comprehend it, however. That isn't necessarily a bane, it just means if you're hoping to hand the book to a child and have them read it on their own, you apparently assume they have protégé abilities for a reading level. This book is more than likely geared as one you as the parent read to your child, and occasionally show them the pictures that are a little infrequent.
The story is about a stuffed toy rabbit that experiences the transition from being a toy to becoming "real," as defined with the enlistment of an old leather horse toy who knows what it takes to become "real." As the story progresses, the boy becomes ill with scarlet fever, which means the bed linens and everything else in the bed has to be burned when the boy recovers. Unfortunately that includes our hero, the stuffed toy rabbit - even after he has morphed into becoming "real." But the story has a happy ending by taking some serious poetic license and we see the stuffed toy rabbit being given the gift of genuine life and it becomes real in the sense that it becomes a living animal.
I suppose for the sake of the innocence of childhood, this story measures out well so that the child you're sharing the story with doesn't cry themselves to sleep for the next 2 years and end up in therapy for the rest of their adult life. On the other hand, it is unfortunate in my humble opinion to give impressionable minds the hope that nothing ever ends up destroyed and possibly diminishes too far the reality of mortality for childhood toys. I don't know a better way to end the book though, once having gone as far as it does with the story saying the bed linens and toys needed to be disinfected beyond a simple dusting off.
The book resolves itself and keeps childhood innocence in perspective, so I will have to say in all fairness, as long as further appropriate information gets shared when the child becomes mature enough to handle it, then this book "The Velveteen Rabbit" is a nice little children's book. I wouldn't refuse to share it with my grandkids, if it were a gift. The art work is geared to a child's appreciation and understanding level, and the story is long enough, yet short enough, to be a good bedtime story - as long as the child doesn't go to sleep before the final transformation of the rabbit at the end of the book. My own childhood reality included a velveteen cat, which after a few trips through the washing machine, didn't make it back to my eager arms. The Peanuts character Linus has his blanket, and I will readily admit I'd rather see a child have a velveteen rabbit than a binky all the way to age 5. Hopefully the child has more than ONE favorite toy, so that more than one toy is "real" to them.
Book Review: Children's book, my foot! This is a book for EVERYONE!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a favorite childhood book of mine, and this touching tale stayed with me even as a grown-up lady. I lost my copy in a move long ago, borrowed the book from someone else, and I loved it as much as I did as a little girl (I went and bought my own copy, plus the sequel THE SKIN HORSE)Yeah, I know that the "Product Details" list it as "for ages 4-8," and you know what? I don't care! To cram it into a box marked with an age group doesn't do it justice, for it has themes that are timeless and universal -- love, friendship, feeling appreciated and cared for, meaning something to someone and having them mean something to you, aging, social hierarchy. If this is a children's book, then it's a children's book you never outgrow! 5 stars? I'd give it 10 if I could!
Book Review: Classic Tale of Toys With a Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
The classic childrens story of a new toy - The Velveteen Rabbit, and a little boys love for it. Also it was the story of toys and how they become real; when the boy truly loves them. Without giving away too much of the story, I do sense a sadness to the story whenever I read it. Perhaps its in the writing. Yet, nonetheless, there is a classic story here thats been told and retold many times, and this is one of the times that its told well and honestly. Highly reccomened to children and adults.