The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a story for 8 year olds about a very vain china rabbit who has to learn, the hard way, how to love.

What happens

Edward is almost three feet tall. He has real rabbit-fur ears, a wardrobe of silk suits and a gold pocket watch. He belongs to Abilene, who adores him. Edward, frankly, adores himself.

He isn't very interested in anyone else. Every night Abilene tells him she loves him, and he says nothing (he's china, so he can't, but he doesn't feel it either). Only her grandmother Pellegrina seems to see straight through him.

One night Pellegrina tells a bedtime story about a beautiful princess who loves no one. It doesn't end well for the princess. And the whole time, Pellegrina keeps looking at Edward.

Soon afterwards the family sails for London. Two boys on deck snatch Edward and throw him about, and he goes over the side and sinks to the bottom of the sea.

That's only the start of the journey in the title. Edward is fished out, renamed, put in a frock, thrown away and rescued again. Almost everyone who finds him calls him something different. And slowly, very quietly, he starts to listen to the people who hold him.

It's a joy to read aloud. The sentences are simple, but the feelings underneath them are enormous. The narrator talks to you like an old-fashioned storyteller, and you'll find yourself caring about a rabbit who really doesn't deserve it at first.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

It's sad in places, and the sad bits keep coming. The princess in Pellegrina's story is turned into a warthog, shot and butchered for supper. A kind old woman talks about her little boy who died of pneumonia years ago. A dog gets kicked, and Edward is nailed up by his ears as a scarecrow. None of it is lingered over, but a sensitive reader may need a cuddle or two.

If your reader loves a story that makes them a bit teary and then leaves them feeling warm, this is a very good one to share.

What to read next

For more DiCamillo, try The Tale of Despereaux. Its hero is a tiny mouse with enormous ears whose family doesn't expect him to live, and who stops to listen to music while everyone else hunts for crumbs.