The Velveteen Rabbit

by Margery Williams, William Nicholson (Illustrator)

Overview

2017 Reprint of 1922 Edition with All Original Illustrations in Color. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. The Velveteen Rabbit (or How Toys Become Real) is a children's book written by Margery Williams (also known as Margery Williams Bianco) and illustrated by William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit and his desire to become real, through the love of his owner. The book was first published in 1922 and has been republished many times since. The Velveteen Rabbit was Williams' first children's book. It has been awarded the IRA/CBC Children's Choice award. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684220878
Publisher:	Martino Fine Books
Publication date:	03/23/2017
Pages:	42
Sales rank:	40,609
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.11(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Margery Williams, an English-American author who lived in Pennsylvania, achieved fame at age forty-one with the 1922 publication of The Velveteen Rabbit, an instant classic. She wrote a number of other books, including Winterbound, a runner-up for the 1937 Newbery Medal. Married with two children, she died in 1944 at the age of sixty-three.

Gennady Spirin grew up in a small town near Moscow and attended the Moscow Art School at the Academy of Art and at the Moscow Stroganov Institute. He has received five gold medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York City, the Golden Apple from the Bratislava International Biennial, and first prize at both the Bologna and Barcelona international book fairs. His work has appeared four times on the annual New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year list. Mr. Spirin has illustrated many classic poems, songs, Bible stories, and tales, including The Night Before Christmas, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Jesus, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Little Red Riding Hood. Now a U.S. citizen, he lives with his wife and three sons in Princeton, New Jersey.

Read an 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."

Editorial Reviews

Lou Fancher sensitively adapts Margery Williams's The Velveteen Rabbit, illus. by Steve Johnson and Fancher, while maintaining the magic of the original. The inviting oil paintings ingeniously portray the boy's toy rabbit with button eyes, shaped like those of the real rabbits living in the nearby woods; as the stuffed rabbit is transformed by love, the artists seem to inject animation into its eyes, depicting its metamorphosis into a living, breathing being.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-Fancher's adaptation of Margery Williams's classic story sings with the magic of the original, while offering a shorter, more accessible version for modern children. The oil paintings have a luminous quality, the rich colors playing with dark and light to produce a timeless feel, perfectly complementing the text. The details of the boy's room, his toys, his Nana-all exist in an enchanted place somewhere between the past and the present. At last librarians have something to give parents who want to share the story of the toy that became real with their children, but are dismayed to find the original tale longer than they had remembered. An ideal adaptation of an old favorite.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

In his note to the reader, Fancher (The Range Eternal, p. 1222, etc.) writes, "I’ve shortened the text to allow more room for the artwork," as an explanation for this abbreviated version of the beloved classic. Shortened indeed: Williams’s poetic passage introducing the Skin Horse has been reduced to: "The Skin Horse was old and wise, and he knew all about being Real." The rest is pared down to match, leaving a tale that does still—faintly—echo the original’s lyricism, but is less likely to lose the attention of, as Fancher puts it, "a wiggly two-year-old" being forced to listen to it. The art is, as promised, all full-paged and space-filling: quiet compositions in which the Velveteen Rabbit, the Boy, and other figures are large, soft-surfaced forms, viewed close-up, and from a child’s-eye level to enhance the feeling of intimacy. The tale’s more philosophical aspects will still elude most of the nursery school set, but sharing this summary may make some listeners more receptive to the Real story, when they’re old enough to appreciate it. On the other hand, perhaps they’ll think they’ve read it already. Why not just wait? (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews

"Wonderful new version of a Classic with gorgeous illustrations! This is a most captivating version of a classic story! With Gorgeous illustrations and beautiful easy to read text, it's a thoroughly enjoyable and charming read. I read it with my 6 year old nephew, who loved it, and asked me to read it again with him when I return. You will love this too!"

Berrnadette Penotti

"Stunning, heartwarming illustrations. I gave this beautiful book to my granddaughter and she loves it. The colorful illustrations beautifully complement the story and provide additional opportunities for discussing the relationship between the boy and his beloved rabbit. This special edition belongs in every child's library, to be enjoyed by adults and kids alike."

Meredith Bell

From the Publisher