Hi Lovelies!
So today, we are kicking off The 12 Books Until Christmas. And to start off, we are doing The Velveteen Bunny. And I know, I know, it’s not that Christmasy of a book, but we’re still 12 days away, so we’ve got time to get more Christmassy.
This is such an old, not well-known book. It was written 1922 as a kid’s book and has since reached its 100 year anniversary in 2022. Due to that fact, it is in the public domain, and you can read the story in The Project Gutenberg website here (sidenote, The Project Gutenberg is an amazing website that has a collection of stories and writings that are in the public domain and can be read for free).
The story starts on Christmas Day, when The Boy receives a velveteen rabbit. The Rabbit is forgotten for a time. As the Rabbit sits in the nursery, he longs to become real and is told by the Skin Horse that to be real is to be loved.
Throughout the book, the Rabbit learns what it means to be real, first to The Boy and then to the world.
“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.”
Background on the Story
As I dug deeper into the backstory of The Velveteen Rabbit and the author, I learned some really intriguing details. Margery Williams Bianco wrote this story with her daughter, Pamela, in mind. Pamela Bianco was an artist and painter, who was recognized as a prodigy at the age of 12. In fact, Pamela Bianco is generally more famous than her mother.
The Velveteen Rabbit was supposed to be a story for Pamela to illustrate, but that didn’t happen. However, the story is still a tribute to her daughter. It expresses Margery’s worry that her daughter was growing up too fast in a world of fame. Both the Rabbit and the Skin Horse were based on real toys that they had. And the themes of growing up, entering the “real” world, and the joy of childhood were very prevalent in their lives.
My Take
For me this book reminds me of my childhood which I think in a way, Christmas takes us back to those memories. That Christmas reminds us of the joy of childhood and the importance of not letting the world take away our childlike wonder.
The Velveteen Bunny may not be a very Christmas themed book, but I thought it was a good one to kick off our 12 Books Until Christmas.
Thanks for reading, Lovelies, and check in tomorrow for our next book.
