The Velveteen Rabbit: One-Hundred Years

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco and illustrated by William Nicholson was written in 1922, one-hundred years ago. How many of you read it or had it read to you? I’m betting it was many of you.

More than once, in our podcast episodes and blog posts, Lory has talked about children’s books. She’s talked about their importance to her as a young reader, their importance to her as a reading mother, and the importance they continue to have for her even today. Some children’s books endure; The Velveteen Rabbit is one of them. Lory and I will talk about lots of different books, but children’s books will always have a special place for both of us.

The Velveteen Rabbit, best I can recall, has never come up in conversation with Lory. I don’t know that she ever read it; I’m kind of hoping that she did. I know I read it, but until I recently saw a newspaper article about the book turning one-hundred, I’m sure it had been a very long time since I thought about it.

Before writing this, I found the book (complete with the illustrations) online and read it. It was familiar, but there was much more that I didn’t remember than I did. The Velveteen Rabbit is simple story with familiar ideas; it is a fairy tale, it is a story about toys becoming real (I thought of Pinocchio), it is a story about kids and the relationships they have with toys, and a story about growing up (I thought of the song Puff the Magic Dragon).

I’m glad that the hundredth anniversary brought The Velveteen Rabbit back to my attention. No sign of grandchildren in my future, but if that changes, I think I might share the story of The Velveteen Rabbit.