A review by me_cara_ree
Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

4.0

I was looking for some shorter, feel-good books to listen to at the end of the year to get me closer to my reading goal and lift me up. I saw this in my to-read list and figured I'd check it out, as I'd never read this story as a child. I downloaded it over a week ago and didn't touch it, but I was finishing Emotional Agility by Susan David and she mentions it in her last chapter! So I decided it was a sign and I should listen to the book. Plus the story is going to be 100 years old next year!!! The audiobook I downloaded had Meryl Streep as the narrator and piano music by some guy named George Winston. I was feeling like crud while recovering from my COVID booster and this was the perfect little audio to listen to - it was only 30 minutes, the music that went along was cute, and it was Christmas at the start. At first I thought of Toy Story in the beginning - it's not a favorite movie of mine at all. The whole having favorite toys and eventually dismissing them is really sad. I think if I had read this story as a kid, I wouldn't have enjoyed it all that much, what with the Scarlet Fever and burning of toys, but I bet I would've believed in the magic much more. When the nursery fairy comes to turn the rabbit into a legit real bunny, I caught myself thinking, "wait a second, how did he get out of the bag, or is this happening inside the bag?" and then I told my brain to shut up and believe in the magic. There was a lot of good emotional expression by the rabbit in the book though: feeling inadequate in comparison to other newer toys, embarrassment at having no hind legs and lying to try to fit in with real bunnies. But love physically transformed him and made him comfortable with losing velveteen fur and the pink on his nose.