"Someone will come for you, but first you must open your heart. . . ."
Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.
And then, one day, he was lost.
Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle -- that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: A heart-warming book Comment: I LOVE this book! I bought this at my local bookstore, and I stayed awake that night until i finished it! This book is #1 on my fave books list! Customer Rating: Summary: Wonderful Read Comment: I used to dislike books about talking animals. Kate DiCamillo has totally changed my opinion. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane was such a touching story that I could absolutely not put it down. I read this one immediately after finishing Ann M. Martin's A Dog's Life and I think I must have gone through a whole box of Kleenex between the two books. The people that Edward meets as he is passed from one person to another are so well-defined. Even though he is with everyone a short time, the reader really connects with everyone and wondering when Edward will finally arrive "home."
I must admit that the ending was a little cliche. ***SPOILER ALERT****
The possibility of the little girl who lost Edward in the beginning stumbling across him with her own daughter is wonderful, but the probability just isn't there. Considering how far he traveled it is amazing they connected again and no stars were lost because as a children's story this was the ending that just had to be there. Customer Rating: Summary: This story will stay with you even when it's over! Beautiful! Comment: This story is truly amazing! Edward teaches us how important it is to love in our lifetime, and how he learned the lesson that it was better to have loved and lost, then never having loved at all.
The story starts out with a very vain rabbit doing everything he can to keep himself distracted from the child (abilene) that he lives with. When he is lost, he realizes that maybe it wasn't so bad living with her. And then he starts to meet new people that grow to love him and take care of him. And he begins to love them back. Edward realizes how wonderful it is to have someone to love.
I had a very hard time putting this book down and it actually brought me to tears at the end. Highly recommended to kids and adults! Customer Rating: Summary: A Beautiful Journey Comment: I've seen this book for a while now and heard/read many good things about it. And yet, for some reason, reading the summary on the back didn't drive me to read it...until this last week. For those who don't know, the gist of the story is that there is a "china doll rabbit" that a little girl has named Edward Tulane. She loves him immensely. Unfortunately, one day, Edward gets lost and begins a journey.
The synopsis reminded me a bit of the movie Toy Story. As I started reading, I was surprised to find that this wasn't going to be like Toy Story because unlike Buzz and Woody, you quickly discover that Edward is not "alive" in the same sense. He's sentient and we follow his adventures in a close third person with a lot of insights into his thoughts and vision. But he has no ability to walk, talk, or otherwise try and return home.
Upon discovering that Edward had no motor skills, I actually grew more interested in the story. Rather than being a simple retelling of the "lost & moveable toy" stories we've seen again and again, this is a very introspective tale.
Abilene Tulane is the girl who owns and cares for Edward at the beginning of the book. She loves him dearly and it's evident from her behavior that he is her prized possession and she definitely considers him more than just a simple toy. To her, she is a true friend.
Pellegrina is Abilene's grandmother and the one who gave her Edward in the first place. Pellegrina is an intriguing character who also thinks of Edward as more than just a toy, but we're never explicitly told exactly what she thinks he is, other than a disappointment.
The rest of the characters in the book are very intriguing and a lot of fun as well. DiCamillo does an excellent job of creating rich and vibrant characters in a small amount of space with simple and engaging language. Each character Edward interacts with throughout the story is intriguing and full. Some are given extensive handling and we grow with them for many chapters. Others exist only for a few pages and are still full and alive.
Experience/Setup/Language
As I mentioned initially, I was somewhat put off at reading another Toy Story type book. Upon discovering that Edward was not "alive" in the normal sense, I actually grew more intrigued in the story. Since I was engaging in the story through Edward's eyes, it helped me relate to him more since he could not control the outcome of the journey any more than I could.
We were each passive travelers on a strange path through the world. I had Edward's thoughts, hopes and dreams to help narrate the journey. At the same time, I had my own insights and desires arguing along with him and telling him to "snap out of it" and start trying to engage himself in life.
The language was simple and engaging. The book jacket suggests the novel is for ages 7+. The first page made me wonder at that designation as I ran across words like "jaunty" and "ennui" to describe Edward's moods. I was quickly too engrossed to really pay attention to any language difficulties. As an adult, the pacing was quick and the language helped encourage that. I read the entire book in ~1 hour (and that included the distractions as my wife watched Perry Mason over my shoulder). This is definitely accessible by young readers.
Plot/Form/Genre
I don't want to spend too much time on plot other than to comment that it was very effective in showing the growth of Edward.
Speaking generally, this story is essentially a Fairy Tale. Most fairy tales have rather static and predictable "typecast" characters used to make a point. As I mentioned above, DiCamillo fleshes out her characters and makes them alive. Almost at the risk of making them overpower the fairy tale genre. To help mitigate this, she uses very short chapters and (aside from Edward) swaps up the main characters every ~2-3 chapters.
This constant change in characters might have been disconcerting, but in fact it didn't bother me at all. Rather I saw it as being very effective in helping me relate more to Edward and better understand what was going on and the lessons he was learning.
Art
I would be remiss not to comment on the gorgeous artwork of this book. Each chapter plate includes a small graphic. There are also numerous full-color, full-page illustrations scattered throughout the novel. In reading aloud to young children, it is very important to them to have illustrations. My kids are constantly begging to see the pictures...even if the only pictures I can show them aren't associated with whatever we just read.
I am certain that kids will love the illustrations in this book. They are vibrant and rich, full of bright warm colors and excellently drawn characters and settings. The illustrations serve to heighten the emotions of the book and make it a complete experience.
Overall
Despite my original thinking that this was a pithy story that would have no depth to it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I very much enjoyed this book. The characters were endearing. I was worried at times that it wouldn't have a "happy ending" which would be an outrage and yet sometimes true to form in the fairy tale genre. I was pleased to find that it did have a happy ending.
The ending itself bordered on being "too sentimental" for my taste. (I generally abhor the stories & songs out there that are overly sentimental....you know the type...the "my sister's sick and I scraped together pennies from the sewer to buy her something pretty she can wear until she dies in two weeks"...that sort of thing). While this ending was sentimental and somewhat predictable, it was still enjoyable and left me not feeling cheated or manipulated, but instead, I felt pleased and content.
In thinking more about the point of view and the state of the character, I view this book as an insightful journey into our own soul. We, like Edward, are hapless travelers on an intriguing journey. We are presented with unique characters and situations and prompted to respond. Edward's thoughts help shape our response, but in the end, I believe that our own personal response to this story can be a very insightful glimpse into our own soul.
I really enjoyed this book and I hope my kids enjoy it as well.
*****
4.5 stars Customer Rating: Summary: Most moving book I've ever read Comment: I read this book a loud over a few days to my [...]. All through out the book, we laughed and cried together. By the end of the book we were both bawling because our hearts were so moved. The author out did herself here. My seven year old went and got all his stuff animals and vowed to never treat them as if they didn't matter ever again. It has truly changed us all. The message about never giving up on love is a great message for adults too. I recommend it even as a gift to adults who have lost great loves and have hardened their heart to ever love again.
