The Velveteen Rabbit

A stuffed rabbit, stiff with new velveteen, arrives in a Christmas stocking and is forgotten by evening. What follows is a small book about being loved hard enough to be worn out. The Skin Horse explains the rule: Real happens slowly, and by the time it does your hair has been loved off and your joints are loose, and you do not mind. Margery Williams published the story in 1922 with pictures by William Nicholson, and the scarlet fever chapter has been undoing readers ever since. It is short enough to read aloud in one sitting, and far sharper about love and loss than its reputation as a nursery book suggests. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.