Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading Level: Late Elementary

A snobby stuffed toy learns about love.

Possible Concerns:

  • Cross dressing. The (male) rabbit is put in a dress by a woman who didn’t know his gender. The rabbit cannot move and does not like it.
  • Witch. A witch reads the mind and heart of the unloving rabbit. The rabbit suspects that she is behind his misery and adventures. She does seam to read his mind and she appears to have powers over his fate.
  • Drunk, abusive father. A boy and his sister try to survive despite their distant, drunk, and abusive father. Readers experience a slap on the boys face and references to him being drunk and mean.
  • Sickness and Death. Sibling who is expected to have a short life. A little girl has a bad cough and has not been given long to live. She dies and the toy rabbit feels pangs of sorrow. This is a sign that his heart has changed.
  • Afterlife. The rabbit is broken and has a dream-like experience that later is revealed as a sort of afterlife experience.

This book could inspire such great discussion about love, brokenness, and the state of our hearts. But there is a strong witchy presence in the grandmother and a few other unbiblical parts (the afterlife, comments that shooting stars are the magical ones) that make me think that it needs strong parent supervision.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is wrong with Edward at the beginning? Why do you think he is that way? (He doesn’t love; he’s a spoiled snob.)
  2. How does Edward learn to love? What experiences help him the most and why? (Hitting rock bottom; being loved even when you)
  3. Edward is just a toy. What do humans need in order to have their hearts changed? (We must hit bottom& receive Jesus, as the holy Spirit gives us a new heart.)