The Velveteen Rabbit

I have been reading children books these days, it’s my “back-to-basics” method. Before the age of 12 I never really liked books so I haven’t read many which brought me here, reading stuff I should have read (10 years) before.

I landed over a book called “The Velveteen Rabbit ”

The Velveteen Rabbit is a British children’s book written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit’s desire to become real through the love of his owner. The book was first published in 1922.

Image Source: Google Books. Information Source: Wikipedia.

and I read something I couldn’t keep myself from sharing. So in case, you haven’t read this book or you don’t have time to, I am sharing one of the most beautiful things I came across.

Here it is.

‘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.

– The Velveteen Rabbit

By Margery Williams Bianco

I’m so in love with this book and I recommend this. So if you have time or you are stressed and need a book to just relax your mind, do try this one.

Thank you for reading.