The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

“And then one day, he was lost”. With these words, Kate DiCamillo begins our journey of love and loss—with a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. With a story reminiscent of The Velveteen Rabbit, DiCamillo personifies Edward, a toy that is loved unconditionally by Abilene Tulane. At the beginning of Edward’s story, the pampered toy listens to a bedtime story about a beautiful princess who loved no one and cared nothing for love. The story had a very abrupt and sad ending—at least for the princess. Edward heard the story and got shivers at the way Pellegrina, Abilene’s grandmother, looked at him, but still did not let himself feel love for anyone other than himself. When Edward was lost at sea, he spent 297 days thinking about the family he had lost and feels his first emotion—fear. This is Edward’s first step on a long journey to learning to love. Readers will alternately feel angry at Edward for his arrogance and feel sorry for his losses as he journeys. “The tender look at the changes from arrogance to grateful loving is perfectly delineated” (School Library Journal, 2006).

Edward’s journey is beautifully illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. She uses sepia toned gouache to illustrate each chapter’s beginning with a small drawing that defines the story to come and full color plates to take readers into Edward’s world. Whether you have loved and lost or never loved at all, readers of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane will come back again and again to believe in the power of love.

I would recommend this book for students in grades 4-7.

Keywords associated with this book: fiction, fantasy, rabbit, toy, love, relationships