If you haven't heard this story before, it's a really nice tale.
In my opinion it is intended for children in the teenage years, not the very young, this toy rabbit thinks very 'deeply' and there are concepts that may be difficult for the very young to grasp. It's a very nice tale with no 'nasty surprises' and like all good children's stories, it has a happy ending - don't we all love them!
In brief, the story is all about a toy rabbit made of velveteen. It is told in the first 'person' by the toy rabbit. He talks to the other toys in the nursery and learns that he can become 'real' through the love of the little boy he lives with. The boy is very kind and loving towards the toy rabbit and even is taken on outings with the boy to the 'outside world'. One day he meets a couple of real rabbits but cannot figure out what they are, how do they move? where is their wind up key? why is their fur so soft and smooth looking? The toy rabbit saw all around him in the context of being a toy and could not understand what these rabbits were. One day the boy becomes very ill and it turns out he had scarlet fever. Standard practice of the day was that all objects in the nursery were to be removed and destroyed so that the nursery could be sterilised. The toy rabbit was removed along with many other items and taken to the back garden in preparation for destruction (fire). While waiting for his fate (although the toy rabbit didn't really understand what his fate was) he had a visit from a 'nursery fairy' and he was taken into the forest by the fairy. But he was not only taken, he was changed by the fairy and became a real rabbit (with hind legs none-the-less, something he never had before as a toy)
This is one VERY DEEP THINKING toy rabbit but the tale is carefully managed, often humourous and has a distinct tenderness about it. The happy ending is that the boy recovers and the toy rabbit achieves his lifelong dream - to be real.
Our daughter has a REAL rabbit, she was bought to tears hearing this story...tears of happiness. She was quite intrigued by the concept that HER rabbit could once have been some other child's discarded toy.
Perfect narration by John Le Mesurier with his very 'English', clear and soothing silky voice. If anyone can remember, John played Sergeant Wilson in the TV comedy series Dads Army.
The story opens with lovely calm, gentle piano music and then throughout the story the narration is accompanied by very well composed orchestral music - no crashes and bangs! the music compliments the story and is used to connect the various sections of the story together - to help it flow along.
MARGERY WILLIAMS - The Velveteen Rabbit
World Record Club
Cat# R 06188
Stereo
1979
Australian release
Cover is in very good condition, no writing, no seam splits, no tears with only light edge wear from normal handling.
New inner plastic liner sleeve
Vinyl record is in very good condition, visually inspected under a white halogen light source and I can see NO marks or scratches at all on either side. Just looking at a piece of shiny plastic often doesn't 'cut it', especially when it is 40+ years old! I then played this album ENTIRELY, each side, and there are no issues with surface noise or click/pops -
New outer protective sleeve
Tracks: The Velveteen Rabbit (Part 1), The Velveteen Rabbit (Part 2)
