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The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane (Hardcover)
by Kate Dicamillo , Bagram Ibatoulline (Illustrator)
| Category:
Fiction, Love, Ages 4-8, Children's books |
| Market price: ¥ 208.00
MSL price:
¥ 198.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
It is a touching, beautifully told story about a china rabbit who was lost, teaching you what it means to love and lose those you love. |
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Author: Kate Dicamillo , Bagram Ibatoulline (Illustrator)
Publisher: Candlewick
Pub. in: February, 2006
ISBN: 0763625892
Pages: 228
Measurements: 8.2 x 7.7 x 0.9 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00199
Other information:
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- MSL Picks -
The vocabulary of this book is quite advanced such as ennui, mortifying, discerning and obliged. That said, the writing is beautiful and poetic, and the story is full of themes which invite discussion about love and the absence of love, poverty, homelessness, loss and even death. While these subjects could be heavy and unpleasant to discuss with a child, Ms Dicamillo has a light and loving treatment of the subjects and allows the readers to travel on this emotional journey with Edward, the china rabbit. The illustrations beautifully compliment the story in both content and feeling. Edward's trials are symbolic of life's crests and troughs, but through him, young readers will discover the rewards of sharing love and remaining faithful to hope. However, this book is for older youths who can absorb the trials Edward endures. As for the poor characters who seem forgotten, they can serve to remind us that like them, we are blessed by those we share our lives with even if we never know their outcome. Share this one with your children and your own heart. The illustrations are magical masterpieces and the story will enrich your life.
Target readers:
Kids aged 4-8
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Kate Dicamillo is the author of The Tale of Despereaux which received the Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Tiger Rising, which was named a National Book Award Finalist; and, most recently, the Mercy Watson stories. She says, "One Christmas, I received an elegantly dressed toy rabbit as a gift. I brought him home, placed him on a chair in my living room, and promptly forgot about him. A few days later, I dreamed that the rabbit was face-down on the ocean floor - lost, and waiting to be found. In telling The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, I was lost for a good long while, too. And then, finally, like Edward, I was found."
Bagram Ibatoullne is the illustrator of Crossing by Philip Booth; The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Stephen Mitchell; The Animal Hedge by Paul Fleischman; Hana in the Time of the Tulips by Deborah Noyes; and The Serpent Came to Gloucester by M. T. Anderson. He says, "It was a singular and most pleasurable experience to work on the illustrations for Edward Tulane and to be there with him on his journey. I must admit, I'm a bit wistful now that I've come to the end of this very special book."
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"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.
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Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a rabbit who was made almost entirely of china. He had china arms and china legs, china paws and a china head, a china torso and a china nose. His arms and legs were jointed and joined by wire so that his china elbows and china knees could be bent, giving him much freedom of movement.
His ears were made of real rabbit fur, and beneath the fur, there were strong, bendable wires, which allowed the ears to be arranged into poses that reflected the rabbit's mood - jaunty, tired, full of ennui. His tail, too, was made of real rabbit fur and was fluffy and soft and well shaped.
The rabbit's name was Edward Tulane, and he was tall. He measured almost three feet from the tip of his ears to the tip of his feet; his eyes were painted a penetrating and intelligent blue.
In all, Edward Tulane felt himself to be an exceptional specimen. Only his whiskers gave him pause. They were long and elegant (as they should be), but they were of uncertain origin. Edward felt quite strongly that they were not the whiskers of a rabbit. Whom the whiskers had belonged to initially - what unsavory animal - was a question that Edward could not bear to consider for too long. And so he did not. He preferred, as a rule, not to think unpleasant thoughts.
Edward's mistress was a ten-year-old, dark-haired girl named Abilene Tulane, who thought almost as highly of Edward as Edward thought of himself. Each morning after she dressed herself for school, Abilene dressed Edward.
The china rabbit was in possession of an extraordinary wardrobe composed of handmade silk suits... Each pair of well-cut pants had a small pocket for Edward's gold pocket watch. Abilene wound this watch for him each morning.
"Now, Edward," she said to him after she was done winding the watch, "when the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the three, I will come home to you."
She placed Edward on a chair in the dining room and positioned the chair so that Edward was looking out the window and could see the path that led up to the Tulane front door. Abilene balanced the watch on his left leg. She kissed the tips of his ears, and then she left and Edward spent the day staring out at Egypt Street, listening to the tick of his watch and waiting.
Of all the seasons of the year, the rabbit most preferred winter, for the sun set early then and the dining-room windows became dark and Edward could see his own reflection in the glass. And what a reflection it was! What an elegant figure he cut! Edward never ceased to be amazed at his own fineness.
In the evening, Edward sat at the dining-room table with the other members of the Tulane family: Abilene; her mother and father; and Abilene's grandmother, who was called Pellegrina. True, Edward's ears barely cleared the tabletop, and true also, he spent the duration of the meal staring straight ahead at nothing but the bright and blinding white of the tablecloth. But he was there, a rabbit at the table.
Abilene's parents found it charming that Abilene considered Edward real, and that she sometimes requested that a phrase or story be repeated because Edward had not heard it.
"Papa," Abilene would say, "I'm afraid that Edward didn't catch that last bit."
Abilene's father would then turn in the direction of Edward's ears and speak slowly, repeating what he had just said for the benefit of the china rabbit. Edward pretended, out of courtesy to Abilene, to listen. But, in truth, he was not very interested in what people had to say. And also, he did not care for Abilene's parents and their condescending manner toward him. All adults, in fact, condescended to him.
Only Abilene's grandmother spoke to him as Abilene did, as one equal to another. Pellegrina was very old. She had a large, sharp nose and bright, black eyes that shone like dark stars. It was Pellegrina who was responsible for Edward's existence. It was she who had commissioned his making, she who had ordered his silk suits and his pocket watch, his jaunty hats and his bendable ears, his fine leather shoes and his jointed arms and legs, all from a master craftsman in her native France. It was Pellegrina who had given him as a gift to Abilene on her seventh birthday.
And it was Pellegrina who came each night to tuck Abilene into her bed and Edward into his.
"Will you tell us a story, Pellegrina?" Abilene asked her grandmother each night.
"Not tonight, lady," said Pellegrina.
"When?" asked Abilene. "What night?"
"Soon," said Pellegrina. "Soon there will be a story."
And then she turned off the light, and Edward and Abilene lay in the dark of the bedroom.
"I love you, Edward," Abilene said each night after Pellegrina had left. She said those words and then she waited, almost as if she expected Edward to say something in return.
Edward said nothing. He said nothing because, of course, he could not speak. He lay in his small bed next to Abilene's large one. He stared up at the ceiling and listened to the sound of her breath entering and leaving her body, knowing that soon she would be asleep. Because Edward's eyes were painted on and he could not close them, he was always awake.
Sometimes, if Abilene put him into his bed on his side instead of on his back, he could see through the cracks in the curtains and out into the dark night. On clear nights, the stars shone, and their pinprick light comforted Edward in a way that he could not quite understand. Often, he stared at the stars all night until the dark finally gave way to dawn.
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| View all 12 comments |
Michael (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
My spirit was lifted as I wiped away the tears while Edward uncovered the realism of opening your heart that many of us forget as adults. His trials are symbolic of life's crests and troughs, but through Edward, young readers will discover the rewards of sharing love and remaining faithful to hope. However, this book is for older youths who can absorb the trials Edward endures. As for the poor characters who seem forgotten, they can serve to remind us that like them, we are blessed by those we share our lives with even if we never know their outcome. Share this one with your children and your own heart. The illustrations are magical masterpieces and the story will enrich your life. |
Robert (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
I have been a fan of Kate DiCamillo since the publication of her last book, The Tale of Despereaux. After reading that book I quickly read her back list and was even more impressed. In The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane we are given a glimpse of arrogance gone wild. The china doll is made to feel special and is loved so much by his owner that he can't conceive he holds any other position than the center of the universe. Then, in an unexpected event, Edward Tulane is thrust into the depths of despair and only thru the kind acts of others is he taught the meaning of love. His various handlers and owners each contribute to Edwards’s salvation in small ways. I found this story to be profoundly touching. I suspect that many grandparents such as myself will find themselves reading this story to our grandchildren. I certainly plan to do so at the earliest opportunity. Kate DiCamillo is truly a national treasure. I look forward to future stories and the development of her as a great author. |
Fern (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
It is a book that you do not ever want to end. The magic of the authors words will invite readers of all ages to go beyond in the thinking about what it takes to love deeply. This book is for children of a 6 and up. The subjects of death, loss, love and hurt are expressed that some younger children might not be able to take. Older adults need to read this book. I have dealt with feelings of not being loved and this book is better than any self help book out! Thank you for writing such a wonderful book. |
Denise (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
This book can be read over and over again by children and adults. As the reader grows their background knowledge grows. This book can take the reader to many different and unique places based on their own experiences. I am a 4th grade teacher and am using it with a group of students in a small book club. I think Kate Dicamillo has done it once again. The way she describes her characters, their thoughts, feelings and experiences the reader can not help but get in to the book. This is a keeper to be read year after year. Connections can be made to ones' own life as well as others. Great mentor book for the entire class. |
View all 12 comments |
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