Children's Book Research Analysis: The Velveteen Rabbit

The book I chose to analyze for this assignment was The Velveteen Rabbit based on the original story by Margery Williams and illustrated by Reed Sprunger. I chose this book because as a child, it was my favorite story to read. My mom and I read it constantly together, or she would read it to me. The story has many aspects in it that appeals to children and the relationship between a child and their stuffed animal. The three main aspects I chose to explore in this story are personal connections, imagination and the illustrations.

The reason why I feel The Velveteen Rabbit is so relevant to children is because of the personal level of connection children may feel to the book. Personally, I had a stuffed animal polar bear when I was younger that I slept with every night and always played with. Everywhere I went, he went. Similar to the little boy and his velveteen rabbit. The polar bear of mine had a name, and we would always go on “adventures” together. Children love stuffed animals. It seems that when we are young we have a mountain of stuffed animals to play with. However, there is always one that is more treasured than all the rest. I feel that with reading this story children will refer to their own stuffed animal that they treasure so much just as I did. If a child were to read this book with their parents, they may also have a personal connection with the story. Often times the parents of children who have a favorite stuffed animal become attached to it as well and love that their child has such a love for the toy. Reading it with my mom, she as a child, had a stuffed bear that she loved deeply. It brought her back to clutching the bear in her arms and the happiness she felt with it. On another aspect of personal connection, when the boy became ill with scarlet fever, the rabbit had to be rid of. I don’t know how many children have become so ill that they had to get rid of their favorite stuffed animal but I do know that most have felt loss like the little boy did. When I was a child, my stuffed polar bear was missing for almost a week and I couldn’t sleep. I was losing sleep over it because he had always been with me to sleep with at night and to play with during the day. I was heartbroken over him until I eventually found him. He had been left behind at my grandparents’ house. Almost every child can relate to losing their favorite toy, or stuffed animal either permanently, or temporarily until found. Because of this, it allows children to feel sad and be empathetic towards the boy when he had to get rid of his favorite stuffed animal. After these aspects of connection personally, the book jumps into a more imaginative theme, which leads me to my next topic of suggestion.

Children have the wildest imaginations. They have the ability to just think of things and have the time of their lives just based on pretending. Throughout the book there is emphasis that the rabbit the boy has may not be real to everyone else, but because the boy imagines he is real, he is real to him. One night when the bunny was left on the lawn by accident, the boy makes a big fuss about having him to sleep with and yells out “My bunny’s not a toy,” he cried. “He’s real.” Children can often relate to this feeling of realness among their toys because of their vast imaginations. When children play with toys they are able to create scenarios and pretend that their toys have real qualities to them; which always makes play time more enjoyable. With this being said, the boy’s words about his toys being real is relatable to children and their own toys. The imaginative aspect of the story thrives towards the end. Just as the story is beginning to be sad as the bunny is thrown away with scarlet fever germs, “something magical happened.” A fairy came and took the rabbit and turned him into a real rabbit so that he could play in the woods with the others. The fairy’s job was to care for worn out playthings that children have loved but don’t need anymore. As children get older, they grow out of certain toys and interests which is okay. This imaginary idea that a fairy takes old toys and makes them real so that they can be happy is comforting to children in knowing that their toys that they once loved will still be loved in a more real setting when it is time to get rid of them. An underlying theme of this book is that love has the power to make things real. You can visualize