A China Rabbit on Egypt Street Learns How to Love

“Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a rabbit who was made almost entirely of china. He had china arms and china legs, china paws and a china head, a china torso and a china nose. His arms and legs were jointed and joined by wire so that his china elbows and china knees could be bent, giving him much freedom of movement.

            His ears were made of real rabbit fur, and beneath the fur, there were strong, bendable wires, which allowed the ears to be arranged into poses that reflected the rabbit’s mood—jaunty, tired, full of ennui. His tail, too, was made of real rabbit fur and was fluffy and soft and well shaped.

            The rabbit’s name was Edward Tulane, and he was tall. He measured almost three feet from the tip of his ears to the tip of his feet; his eyes were painted a penetrating and intelligent blue.

            All in all, Edward Tulane felt himself to be an exceptional specimen. Only his whiskers gave him pause. They were long and elegant (as they should be), but they were of uncertain origin. Edward felt quite strongly that they were not the whiskers of a rabbit. Whom the whiskers had belonged to initially—what unsavory animal—was a question that Edward could not bear to consider for too long. And so he did not. He preferred, as a rule, not to think unpleasant thoughts.”

From The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo

This is the story of Abilene and her china rabbit, Edward Tulane. I read this book to Ingrid when she was little and it became one of her favorite books of all time. "New York Times" reviewer Michael Patrick Hearn said this book "belongs to an undervalued but nonetheless beloved genre concerning the private lives of playthings." Unlike many chapter books and other books for kids today, which Hearn calls "entertaining fluff," The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane has "deeper implications."

This is a terrific book for older children and is filled with adventure, the importance of respect for self and others, courage, loss, endurance, and yes, love. A very wise love.