velveteen rabbit

when i was little, maybe 10 i saw the velveteen rabbit on saturday morning cartoons and i cried. i had never heard the story. but even then i loved it. as an adult she has bought me a movie and two versions of the book. she must love the story too.

"...What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day... "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does ti happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real. most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."...


the last two images are mine. i realize they aren't the velveteen rabbit. one of them is actually Peter Rabbit. i made them years ago, but in honor of today. happy easter!