Where a Children's Book is Unexpectedly Affecting

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I expected to not like this, to not be impressed by this, but whoops--I did like it, and I was impressed. Touched, even. This is a very sweet book, well worth reading at pretty much any age.

Edward Tulane is a ceramic rabbit, beloved of his little girl owner. What's wonderful about this is that he doesn't love her back. He is aware of things happening around him but is not interested; Edward doesn't care about others or their feelings or what happens to them.

He's not sympathetic at all--until he is.

The plot is simple in a way, in terms of the action, but it's the story of Edward's heart that is complex and layered and crafted in such a deft way that the reader (well, I'm talking about myself here, but you, too, I suspect) grows to care about this vulnerable little creature and those he becomes attached to: the old fishing couple, the hobo and his friends, the little boy and his sick sister, and others. They all suffer grief and loss, the kind that makes one question the wisdom of caring (as Edward starts to question), but they care anyway, and so does the reader.

I've read a lot of novels written for adults where I didn't care for any of the characters as much as I cared about Edward and his friends in this children's novel, where I didn't have as much of an emotional reaction as I did reading this. I guess that makes it a human book.

I suspected contrivances and manipulations but found none. I was wrong about that. It's a lovely little story, beautifully told, and absolutely deserving of the praise it's received elsewhere.

And yes, the illustrations are wonderful.

Recommended.

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