The Children’s Classical Library The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams Bianco Edited for children aged Eight and above The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real by Margery Williams Bianco Edited, with an introduction, notes and comprehension questions, by Ralph Mason This edition of The Velveteen Rabbit, from The Children’s Classical Library™, was published in 2007 by Books for Learning (www.booksforlearning.com.au) Introduction, notes, comprehension questions and illustrations copyright © Ralph Mason 2007 Set in 15 pt Garamond Premier Pro • This text is sold as a printable ebook on the condition that it not be circulated by any electronic means (such as email or data storage device). Books for Learning allows individual purchasers to print ebooks for family use only. Schools are permitted to print multiple copies for their pupils, but not to circulate ebooks or printed copies outside the school. For more information, please contact Books for Learning on the web at www.booksforlearning.com.au/contact • The Children’s Classical Library is a growing collection of the world’s classic literature, carefully prepared for children of primary age and above. From original texts to retellings, each book is designed for a specific age range, and comes with an introduction, notes and comprehension questions. Answers to the comprehension questions in this book, along with extra quiz questions, can be found at www.booksforlearning.com.au. Go to The Children’s Classical Library page > Books by Title > Velveteen Rabbit (or www.booksforlearning.com.au/classics/books/velveteen). This ebook includes bookmarks that allow the reader to navigate to specific sections, including the Contents page, Introduction, chapter headings, and chapter-specific comprehension questions. To access bookmarks, click on the Bookmarks tab at the upper left side of the document (or the Sidebar button in Apple’s Preview). Tips for making use of this ebook can be found by visiting the Ebooks section of the Books for Learning website (www.booksforlearning.com.au/ebooks). Contents Introduction 1 Qs 1. Christmas Morning 2 15 2. Spring Time 5 17 3. Summer 7 19 4. The Boy Falls Ill 9 21 5. Anxious Times 11 23 6. The Fairy 13 25 Questions 15 1 Introduction ‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day… ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. It’s a thing that happens to you…’ hings are not easy for the Velveteen Rabbit at first. He is a simple toy, Towned by a Boy who has lots of other—and more exciting—toys to play with. His only friend is the Skin Horse, who is very wise and tells him what it means to be Real. Life becomes much better for the Velveteen Rabbit when the Boy starts to love him; but then the Boy becomes sick, and danger looms for the little toy rabbit. What will happen to him when the doctor decides to clean away all the germs in the house? And can the Velveteen Rabbit truly become Real? Read this story to find out... • argery Williams Bianco lived from 1881 to 1944. She was born in MEngland, but later settled in the United States. She was inspired to write stories for children by Walter de la Mare, a famous writer of poems and stories for children. As a child, Margery loved to read and write, and by the age of 19 she was writing books for a living. She wrote novels and short stories for adults and children. Her most famous book is The Velveteen Rabbit, which was published in 1922, but she also wrote other wonderful books for children such as The Little Wooden Doll, Poor Cecco and The Skin Horse. She is especially remembered for her stories about toys, which often come alive and get up to exciting adventures. Poor Cecco, for example, is a story about a wooden dog who, along with the other toys from a cupboard, goes on an adventure in search of a lost friend. www.booksforlearning.com.au 2 Chapter 1 Christmas Morning here was once a velveteen1 rabbit, and in the beginning he was really Tsplendid2. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen3. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy’s stocking, with a sprig of holly4 between his paws, the effect was charming. There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine5, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels6, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten. For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed7 him. 1 velveteen—a material made of cotton that feels like velvet. (Velvet is a very soft material that feels like fur.) 2 splendid—fine and beautiful. 3 sateen—a smooth, shiny material like satin. 4 sprig of holly—holly is a plant with spiky leaves and red berries that is used in Christmas decorations. A ‘sprig’ is a twig or little bit of branch with leaves on it. 5 toy engine—a toy train. 6 parcels—presents. 7 snubbed—ignored or made fun of. www.booksforlearning.com.au 3 The mechanical toys1 were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone2 from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging3 in technical terms4. The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn’t know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out- of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles5. Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views6, put on airs7 and pretended he was connected with Government. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse8. The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession9 of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it. 1 mechanical toys—toys that have moving parts. ‘Mechanical’ sounds like ‘mek-an-ic-al’. 2 tone—way of talking. 3 rigging—strings that hold up his mast and sails. 4 technical terms—fancy language or big words. 5 in modern circles—around people who like to be trendy or ‘up-to-date’. 6 broader views—better sense, or a more open mind. 7 put on airs—got puffed up. 8 Skin Horse—a toy horse on wheels, which can be sat on or pulled along. It is called a ‘skin’ horse because it has a stitched covering—as if it had real skin. 9 succession—line or series. This means that the Skin Horse has seen lots of toys come and go since he has been in the nursery. ‘Succession’ sounds like ‘suck-sesh-un’. www.booksforlearning.com.au 4 ‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender1, before Nana2 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.’ ‘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.’ ‘I suppose you are real?’ said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.