The Velveteen Rabbit
The Velveteen Rabbit
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Board Book ©2003--
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HarperCollins
Annotation: Find out what happens when you give a toy enough love.
 
Reviews: 5
Catalog Number: #4098764
Format: Board Book
Special Formats: Board Book Board Book
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright Date: 2003
Edition Date: 2003 Release Date: 01/20/04
Illustrator: Kliros, Thea,
Pages: 1 volume (unpaged)
ISBN: 0-06-052746-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-06-052746-4
Dewey: E
LCCN: 2002111698
Dimensions: 16 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews

<p>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 stilla"faintlya"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)</p>

School Library Journal

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.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

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.

Horn Book

Fancher adapts the classic story of a stuffed rabbit who becomes real when he experiences the love of a little boy. The adaptation retains much of the formal language and sentimental tone of the original and the oil paintings have a crackled look that contributes to the old-fashioned feel of the story. The story is sophisticated enough, even in this edited form, that it will appeal to the older picture book audience.

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
Wilson's Children's Catalog
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
Horn Book
Word Count: 3,877
Reading Level: 4.9
Interest Level: P-K
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.9 / points: 1.0 / quiz: 695 / grade: Lower Grades
Reading Counts!: reading level:4.2 / points:2.0 / quiz:Q12073
Lexile: AD1050L
Guided Reading Level: Q
Fountas & Pinnell: Q
"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."

Excerpted from The Velveteen Rabbit
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Find out what happens when you give a toy enough love.


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