One day at school I ran into the mother of one of The Pea's classmates. She was carrying a children's book -- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane -- and pressed it into my hands. "Has The Pea read this? No? Here, I'm lending it to you, you simply must read this, it's a wonderful book!"
There is truly nothing like the recommendation of another parent, so I took the book and handed it to The Pea. I had intended to read it with her at bedtime, as her friend's mom suggested, but yesterday she read it all by herself.
When she was done, she came to me with her face all red and blotchy. "What's wrong, honey? Didn't you like it?" The story, and the tears, came pouring out. "I liked the story but there was this girl and she had a toy bunny called Edward Tulane and she lost it and a fisherman found it but it got thrown away in the garbage and this old woman found it and..." -- lots of sobs here -- ".. she NAILED the bunny to a fence!! And then a boy rescued it and gave it to his sister, " -- even more sobs -- "but she dieeeeeed..."
Yikes! I had guessed the story might be a bit sad at times, rather like The Velveteen Rabbit, but this sounded like the Grapes of Wrath! I resolved to read it myself.
When I finished the book, I was in tears as well. Don't worry, it's a happy ending. The Pea neglected to tell me that the little bunny started out as a cold, unfeeling toy, and the real journey was in his heart. About how he meets people who love him unconditionally, and how he learns how to love them back. The Pea and I both love this book. We're just big, soft crybabies with big hearts. Just like Edward Tulane.
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