18. The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (Audio Book)

THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE by Kate DiCamillo (Listening Library, 2006)

Audio Book read by Judith Ivey

GENRE: Fantasy

HONORS: Beehive Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature, Charlie May Simon Children’s Book Award, Christopher Award, Cochecho Readers’ Award, Grand Canyon Reader Award, Indian Paintbrush Book Award, Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Parents’ Choice Award, Prairie Pasque Award, Sunshine State Young Reader’s Award, Young Reader’s Choice Award

REVIEW:

Edward Tulane is a china rabbit that is loved more than anything by a little girl named Abilene.  She’s made sure that Edward has a vast collection of clothing to keep him looking dapper.  However, the love is one-sided as Edward only feels love for himself, looking down on many of the humans he meets.  When on a trip on the Queen Mary, Abilene has Edward ripped out of her hands by two boys and, in the scuffle, Edward flies overboard.  Thus begins Edward’s journey of love and loss.  Just when Edward begins to feel that love only leads to pain, his faith in love is restored when a happy young girl and her mother come into his doll shop.

OPINION:

This book sends readers on a wonderful journey of discovering what love is, with all of the bumps and bruises along the way.  Abilene’s grandmother tells Edward, “If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless.”  This statement carries readers through by emphasizing the importance of love in human existence.  Although the book could have easily gone overly sentimental, DiCamillo does not go this route and instead uses Edward’s relationship with each of the people he meets to build upon his character, slowly introducing him to love.  Also, the audio book is especially wonderful, with Judith Ivey creating distinct voices for each of the characters.  With some adventure thrown in, tweens will enjoy this tale of a rabbit that learns what it truly means to love.

IDEAS:

This book would be great for a library display of fantasy books, as well as a display of Kate DiCamillo’s award-winning novels.  Also, this would be a great book to include in a read-aloud program and tweens can design their own Edwards to reflect the numerous outfits he wears throughout the novel.