Love Makes You Real

A story that has been treasured for years, this gentle tale will most certainly be enjoyed for many years to come. Often found among the Easter books when the holiday rolls around because the main character is a rabbit, The Velveteen Rabbit is all the more appropriately placed because it tells how love gives new life.

The Velveteen Rabbit is a lovely stuffed bunny given to a young boy for Christmas. He lives in the nursery, where his only friend is the ancient, ragged Skin Horse. The Skin Horse explains to the rabbit that he, unlike most of the toys in the nursery, is real because he was once loved by the boy's uncle. He describes how, when you are loved, you begin to grow tattered and torn and you no longer look beautiful to most people. But by the time you are real, none of that matters anymore. To the one who loves you, you are the most beautiful thing in the world, and once you have become real, no one can ever take that away.

The Velveteen Rabbit dreams of the day when he might become real, and on one magical night, quite by accident, the boy is reunited with him. They become constant playmates, and soon the boy will not settle for any other toy. The Velveteen Rabbit doesn't notice as his fur grows shabby and his eyes lose their polish. He has become real.

That year, the boy becomes gravely ill with scarlet fever. The Velveteen Rabbit remains at his side at all times, but when the boy is on the road to recovery, he is still infested with germs and sentenced by the doctor to be tossed into the burning barrel. And as the rabbit awaits his demise, still grateful for the chance to have been real, a miracle occurs that will leave tears in your eyes and a new song in your heart.

This book can be enjoyed equally by adults and children. It is a lovely story whose moral never grows old. Pick up a copy during this season of growth and renewal. You may never be the same.