The Velveteen Rabbit – In this classic tale of a much loved toy, Margery Williams explains the magic behind toys and how they become real.
Note: The Velveteen Rabbit is an open source book, that is, it is available in the public domain due to an expired (or unregistered) copyright. Although we don’t normally publish public domain books, this book is considered worthy of an exception.
By: Margery Williams, compiled in pdf by Danielle Bruckert
Excerpt: There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy’s stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming. <End of Paragraph 1>
About the Author: Born on July 22, 1881 in London, England – September 4, 1944 in New York City) Margery was an English-American author, primarily of popular children’s books. A professional writer since the age of nineteen, she achieved lasting fame at forty-one with the 1922 publication of the classic that is her best-known work, The Velveteen Rabbit as published here.
Read Along with the YouTube Video of Velveteen Rabbit
Approximate reading time 25 minutes.
Suitable for a bedtime story for children with longer attention spans.
Reading Comprehension
Text with Reading Comprehension Questions at the end for each chapter – http://booksforlearning.com.au/classics/books/velveteen/VelveteenRabbit.pdf
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I’m just curious about the book
I’m just curious
You can just read it and see.
Loved it!
This was a book I never had encountered as a child. I had occasion to read it as an adult many years ago. It made me cry then; it still does. There’s something tremendously moving about the message that you become real only if you are loved. The skin horse was right.
What a beautiful story!
Danielle (site editor) writes:
One of my all time favourite children’s books to this day, such a sweet story encompassing both the magical world of real toys, that we forget as we get older, and the love between a child and their favorite toy. A good length for early grade children learning to read their first non picture book length story.
Ali Camarillo writes:
This is one of my favourite books. It’s a wonderful story that made me believe in magic and that our toys are not just toys, they are a part of us. For some, the concept of a toy wanting to be real may be outdated but I think that this aspiration to be more than what we are can also apply to people. Editor: I fully agree! This is also still one of my favourite tales. I wonder, when watching the relationship between a most loved toy and it’s child, how can something loved so much not be real?
Editor: from these comments one can see it’s definitely a classic and a big all time favourite with many people! Thanks for recreating it here.