Teen Reader
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (1922)
The Velveteen Rabbit Text Version
The Velveteen Rabbit Audio Version
MARGERY WILLIAMS was born in London in 1881 and first came to the United States at the age of nine. For the rest of her life, she lived alternately in England and America. Her first novel was published when she was twenty-one, but she turned to writing for children in 1922 with the publication by Doubleday of The Velveteen Rabbit, the best-known of her thirty books for young people. Toward the end of her life, she lived in Greenwich Village in New York City. She died there in 1944. (From Penguinrandomhouse.com)
Discussion Questions for The Velveteen Rabbit
Why do grown-ups (like Nana) and newer toys see the world so differently from the boy and the Velveteen Rabbit?
How does the Skin Horse define "real," and how does the Velveteen Rabbit's understanding of it change?
What role does the Boy's deep love play in the story's message about empathy and self-worth?
Can loving something make it real? How does this story change your definition of real?
Why do the new mechanical toys think they are better than the Velveteen Rabbit, and how does this relate to feeling "real"?
The Skin Horse says becoming Real can hurt; how does the story show this, and why does the Rabbit come to accept the pain?
Why does the Velveteen Rabbit feel sad and left out when he sees the live rabbits, even though he wants to be like them?
What does the Boy's illness and the subsequent discarding of the rabbit teach us about loss and change?
How does the fairy's magic represent hope or new beginnings after a difficult experience?
When the Boy sees the real rabbit at the seaside, he says, "Why, he looks just like my old Bunny," what does this reveal about his feelings for the lost toy?
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