by Kate DiCamillo
ages: read-aloud, any age. Read alone, ages 7-10
First sentence: “Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a rabbit who was made almost entirely out of china.”

C got this one for Christmas from Santa, and her reaction (which made me laugh), was part “Huh?!” and part “That’s stupid. I don’t want to read that.” So, she did voice some opposition when I said that this should be the next one we read aloud. But, since I’m mom, and since I wanted to read it, my desires prevailed. (bwahahaha!)

If you don’t know already, this is the story of Edward Tulane, a china rabbit who is loved, but who is so incredibly stuck on himself that it’s impossible for him to love in return. He is lost on a trip, and then spends years traveling the world (he can’t move himself; he’s passed from owner to owner), learning to love, losing and then learning to hope again.

It’s a simple plot, but an absolutely wonderful book. It’s beautiful, picturesque language was a dream to read out loud. It’s amazing pictures were lovely to look at; C’s biggest complaint while reading it was that she was missing the pictures. It’s got a beautiful moral (yes, I am gushing), but is not heavy handed in the telling of that moral. In short, it’s a perfect book.

C, when we finished last night, told me that she didn’t think much of the book when she saw it on Christmas. “But, Mom,” she said, “I was wrong. I’m glad you read it to me. It’s a GREAT book.”

And she couldn’t be more right.