Once upon a time, in a big wooden toy shop, lived a Velveteen Rabbit. He wasn't shiny and new like the mechanical toys. He was made of soft, brown velveteen, and he felt a little bit shy. He wished he could be Real, like the rocking horse and the tin soldier.
A little boy, not quite five years old, chose the Velveteen Rabbit for his birthday. The boy loved the Rabbit very much. He took him everywhere – to tea parties, on adventures in the garden, and even to bed. At first, the other toys looked down on the Rabbit. They said he was too soft and cuddly to be a proper toy.
But the boy didn't mind. He loved the Rabbit just as he was. He hugged him tight, and sometimes, when he was sad, he would cry into the Rabbit’s fur. Slowly, the Rabbit began to change. His velveteen became worn and patchy, his ears flopped, and his whiskers got tangled. He wasn't new and perfect anymore.
The mechanical toys teased him. “Look at you, all worn out!” they’d say. But the boy just loved him more. He said, “You’re the bestest, most real rabbit in the whole world!”
One day, the boy got sick. A real doctor came, and the boy had to stay in bed. The Velveteen Rabbit stayed right beside him, offering silent comfort. When the boy finally got better, his Nana came to tidy up the nursery. She saw the old, worn-out Rabbit and decided he was too shabby to keep.
She called the Skin Horse, the oldest and wisest toy in the nursery. The Skin Horse explained, “It doesn’t really matter how he looks to you; it matters what the boy has done to him. He has loved him, and that’s what makes him Real.”
Nana didn’t quite understand, but she took the Rabbit outside to be burned. Just as the flames began to lick at his fur, something magical happened! A fairy appeared, shimmering with light. She touched the Rabbit, and he began to grow and change.
The fairy explained, “You have been loved so much, little Rabbit, that you have become Real. Real isn’t about how you look, it’s about how much love you have been given and how much love you give back.”
The Velveteen Rabbit was now a real, wild rabbit, with bright eyes and a twitching nose. He hopped away into the fields, but he never forgot the little boy who had loved him so much. And every night, the boy dreamed of his Velveteen Rabbit, knowing that even though he couldn’t see him, their love would always be real.
So close your eyes now, little one, and remember that *you* are loved, just as you are. And that’s the most real and wonderful thing of all.