The Velveteen Rabbit

There must be something innate in us (maybe I should speak for myself) that give us a sense that toys are kinda alive. For example, when my kids step on or play rough with their stuff animals/dolls, I find myself wincing and end up scolding them to not treat their toys in such a matter. Perhaps it's more of teaching them proper behavior or respect. But, why did I wince? Did I think that the toy really got hurt or did my kids' behavior upset me? I can't help but answer yes to both...

During our daily read aloud on Fridays, we took 30 minutes or so, for a few weeks, to read the children's story, The Velveteen Rabbit. The book tells the story of a toy rabbit, loved by the boy who owns him. When the boy becomes ill with scarlet fever, all of his toys, including the rabbit, are thrown away and new ones bought for him. However, a magical flower fairy collects the toy rabbit and turns him into a real rabbit.

It is quite a touching story, and has a magical and happy ending. It teaches children about empathy and has some poignant quotes. Grade 1 simply adored it!

"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 happen often 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."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

But the Skin Horse only smiled.