WeBuzz
Reader discussion: The Velveteen Rabbit
Public reader discussion about The Velveteen Rabbit in the WeRead Catalog by Margery Williams Bianco.
Re-reading The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) as an adult. The older I get, the more the skin horse indicts my younger self
By wonderhoney40
Rereading Margery Williams’ *The Velveteen Rabbit* (1922) and wow—I forgot how rough and intense that back-and-forth is between the Rabbit and the Skin Horse. The lines aren’t long or fancy, but they hit you like something really heavy. It feels kind of like a really bleak play or a poem, where the simple questions end up feeling huge.
“What is REAL?” the Rabbit asks, like, right there beside the nursery stuff, before Nana comes in to tidy.
And the Skin Horse basically says being “real” isn’t about how you’re built—it’s what happens after a child actually loves you for a long time, not just for fun. Then the Rabbit keeps asking questions: does it hurt? does it happen all at once? And the Skin Horse is honest that it can hurt, but when you’re real you don’t mind. It also takes forever, and by the time you get there you’re kind of wrecked looking—hair loved off, eyes gone, joints loose, all shabby. But he’s like… none of that matters, because only people who don’t get it call you ugly.
I don’t even know if that’s comforting or depressing, but it’s definitely making some kind of point about what it costs to be truly known. Like, you don’t get “real” without getting worn down first. And somehow that wear-and-tear becomes the whole thing.
The Velveteen Rabbit
By paleAtlas6
The velvetine rabbit was brown and white.
Either it was some kind of pink bunny… or it’s just not a bunny, period.
No bunny at all. Like, 100% no bunny at all.
What book(s) did you read as a kid that scarred you?
By aquapanda
The first one that really sticks with me is the first Sword of Truth book. I was a kid when the TV show was airing, so it sounded kinda cool. I’d probably read some LoTR and Narnia stuff before it, but I hadn’t really gotten into fantasy beyond that, and I didn’t know anything about it—I just grabbed it from the library.
I don’t remember much except that it felt way too long, with random over-detailed stuff and dialogue that dragged, and then those awful torture scenes involving the main guy. I honestly couldn’t even tell if what was happening was meant to be sexual or not, but either way it really freaked me out. And since I was a 90s/early-2000s kid, I definitely didn’t ask my parents about it or anything.
Also, just to clarify: I’m not really asking which books were just “scary” as a kid—more like which ones left you messed up, like they scarred you or traumatized you a bit because you weren’t ready for that kind of content.
Book where character gets scarlet fever, has toys burned (not Velveteen Rabbit)?
By cosmos_peastone
I read this when I was a kid, so I’m guessing it’s some kind of juvenile book. There’s a girl in it who catches scarlet fever (or maybe yellow fever?) and then the deal is that all her toys and stuff have to get burned. I don’t think it was The Velveteen Rabbit, though—because I’m pretty sure the character was a girl. I actually figured it would be Anne of Green Gables, and I was ready to recognize the scene, but it wasn’t there at all, and I hadn’t read it before.
So now I’m not sure, but I think there was another series like Anne of Green Gables, kind of in the same time period, maybe more for younger kids, and it might have been written more recently. Could it be Velveteen Rabbit and I just got a couple things mixed up? Yeah, that’s possible, but this is what I remember.
As 'The Velveteen Rabbit' turns 100, its message continues to resonate
By zenithValley
I honestly love this book, but I don’t think I’ve ever made it through the ending without crying. Even when I’m reading it as an adult and I’m like, “Okay, I’m not going to cry—this is a kids’ book,” somehow I still end up crying by the end. And yeah, this article even got me crying too.
Just Finished Reading Stuart Little to my Kids. What an Unexpectedly Strange Book.
By teashore
My oldest just turned 6, and I’ve been reading her chapter books for years. Her first big one was Charlotte’s Web and she was totally hooked—like, hanging on every word.
So when I stumbled on Stuart Little in the basement, I figured it would be a great next read for her. The kids stayed into it while I did a chapter a night, but once we finished, everyone was kind of… stunned? It didn’t wrap up neatly like a typical kids’ book. With Stuart, the whole “journey” doesn’t really land on anything you can predict, and there are all these loose ends that don’t get tied off. My daughter kept insisting there had to be another book, but I was like, nope, that’s it. The unfinished bits were basically the point, I guess, because the questions kept following us right into bedtime.
Anyway, I’m still sitting here later thinking about what actually happened and what it all meant. Has anyone read it lately? I know there’s a movie, but I’ve never seen it—so I have no idea how it matches up. If you have seen it, do you think it sticks to the book, and do you feel like it’s close or totally different?
And yeah, I have my own thoughts, but I’m not even sure I’m right. I sort of feel like Stuart is meant to stand in for something more than just a mouse. Like he’s “born” different, in that same way people talk about Gregor Samsa waking up changed. But he’s kind of weirdly confident about it—he doesn’t really act like being a mouse is a problem, and he doesn’t seem to spend the whole time wishing he wasn’t. He just accepts it, and everyone else kind of accepts it too.
The way I read it, the early part feels like childhood—dealing with a bully (Snowbell the cat) and then having that first big love for real (Margalo), except it’s doomed and confusing, not some clean fairy-tale thing. The love is there, but it never works out how you’d want.
Then she’s gone, for reasons you don’t get to fully “fix,” and it’s like… isn’t that kind of how real life goes? You think you found the perfect dream, then one day it just disappears, and suddenly you’re spending years chasing after something that probably isn’t even around anymore. Stuart just can’t let it go. He even finds the “perfect” place and a girl who fits his world better than anyone—everything looks right—so it feels extra painful when it still doesn’t work out the way he pictured. That part feels so real it almost doesn’t feel like a kids’ story.
By the end, it’s like he keeps going and fades out with this last fork in the road—like he had the chance to stop the whole pursuit, but he doesn’t. And the book kind of leans into hope, like it was all the right choice, but it honestly felt to me more like Stuart talking himself into it again. I finished the last page feeling really sad. Not “cute story sad,” but like he spent his life still longing for something he never truly got, wandering through beautiful places he couldn’t even fully enjoy because his head was stuck on a love that was already gone.
And I haven’t even gotten into the boat race or that invisible car that makes absolutely no sense.
The Velveteen Rabbit (2023). When 7-year-old William receives a new favourite toy for Christmas, he discovers a lifelong friend and unlocks a world of magic.
By hardcoverStorm
It seems adorable, but I’m not sure I could actually sit through it. I read the book when I was a kid and ended up crying so much I made myself feel sick.
[deleted by user]
By storybeaver93
I’d say /r/Books is a good place to look too.
This sub is basically for finding books from other people’s suggestions, which is pretty useful.
There are also a bunch of helpful posts, like beginner/veteran/expert recs, what to read after Harry Potter, stuff like Game of Thrones, best books of 2019, and all that.
And there are a few related book subreddits listed as well.
They also lay out the posting rules pretty clearly, especially about spoilers and what kinds of submissions/comments aren’t allowed.
Looking for an old copy of The Velveteen Rabbit to surprise my wife.
By DawnBookworm2
My wife’s favorite kids’ book of all time is The Velveteen Rabbit. We actually had a reading at our wedding from the part with the Skin Horse and what it means to be “Real.” I’ve been trying to find an older hardcover version as a surprise for her, but it’s harder than I thought. We’re having our first baby, Giulia Louise, in May, so it feels like it would be perfect for both of them. I’ve seen some on Amazon and eBay, but they’re usually newer copies, or someone’s written in it and there are markings inside. If anyone knows where I could hunt down a real older copy—like a local bookstore or antique shop—I’d really appreciate the tip. Thanks in advance! P.S. If this isn’t the right place to post, sorry—tell me where it should go and I’ll move it.
The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams
By Lake_Frog
“What does ‘real’ even mean?” Rabbit asked one day while they were just hanging out near the nursery fender, before Nana came in to fix everything up. He was basically wondering if it’s like having something buzzing inside you and one of those handle things.
Skin Horse didn’t answer the way Rabbit expected. It said real isn’t about how you’re built—it’s something that happens when a child loves you for a long, long time, like actually loves you and not just grabs you to play with. Then you turn into “real.”
Rabbit asked if it hurts, and Skin Horse said yeah, sometimes. But that once you’re real, you don’t mind the hurt as much.
Then Rabbit asked if it’s all at once, like winding up, or more like slowly. Skin Horse said it’s slow—takes a long time—so it doesn’t happen to people who are easily breakable or have sharp edges, or who need to be handled super carefully. And by the time you’re real, you’re kind of worn down: hair mostly gone, eyes dropping out, joints getting loose, looking shabby. Still, none of that matters, because once you’re real you can’t be ugly—except to people who don’t get it.
Looking for suggestions for a literary wedding reading, preferably something from science fiction...
By happy-laurel61
My fiancé and I are getting married this summer and we’re doing a pretty literary ceremony. First reading is going to be from The Velveteen Rabbit, and we’d like the second one to be from something else in fiction—ideally sci-fi, but fantasy could work too. Any ideas? Thanks!!!