The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams tells the story of the velveteen rabbit who is given to a little boy at Christmas. The little rabbit lives in the nursery and is teased by the mechanical toys, but he learns from the Skin Horse what it means to be Real. The horse explains that a toy becomes Real when it is really truly loved by a child. When the boy’s nurse gives him the rabbit to sleep with, the rabbit comes to love the boy, and the boy tells the rabbit he is real. However, when the boy becomes very sick with scarlet fever, the grownups must burn all of the boy’s toys, including the rabbit. As he lies in a rubbish heap waiting, the nursery magic fairy appears and turns the velveteen rabbit into a truly Real Rabbit, just like he always wanted.