Module 8: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

• Book Cover Image:

• Book Summary: Edward Tulane is a beautiful china rabbit doll that is well loved and well taken care of by Abilene, the little girl that he belongs to. Despite the adoration he receives, Edward thinks only of himself and is very pretentious. When a tragic event leads to Edward being separated from Abilene, he embarks on a long journey that includes coming in contact with many people, some mean and some nice. Edward learns many lessons along the way that slowly soften his heart with each new experience. The surprising twist at the end is sure to leave readers feeling warm and filled with thoughts on love and redemption.    

• APA Reference of Book: DiCamillo, K. (2009). The miraculous journey of edward tulane. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

• Impressions: The first experience I had with this story was listening to the audiobook version about seven years ago with my then 5 and 11 year-old children. I thought it was such a poignant story and was excited to revisit it for the fantasy genre. This book contains all the characteristics of well written fantasy according to the textbook, Young Adult Literature (Bucher & Hinton, 2014, p. 200). While it has been compared to Velveteen Rabbit and Pinocchio, other stories of inanimate objects getting a "soul", it has an originality that makes it enjoyable as a read-aloud to younger children as much as for older children. I love how the story spanned so many years and with each interaction Edward had with each new character introduced, the reader sees transformation in Edward that builds up to the traits in his final character revealed at the end.   

• Professional Review: *Starred Review* Gr. 2-4. As she did in her Newbery Medal Book, The Tale of Despereaux (2004), DiCamillo tucks important messages into this story and once more plumbs the mystery of the heart--or, in this case, the heartless. Edward Tulane is a china rabbit with an extensive wardrobe. He belongs to 10-year-old Abilene, who thinks almost as highly of Edward as Edward does of himself. Even young children will soon realize that Edward is riding for a fall. And fall he does, into the sea, after mean boys rip him from Abilene's hands during an ocean voyage. Thus begins Edward's journey from watery grave to the gentle embrace of a fisherman's wife, to the care of a hobo and his dog, and into the hands of a dying girl. Then, pure meanness breaks Edward apart, and love and sacrifice put him back together--until just the right child finds him. With every person who touches him, Edward's heart grows a little bit softer and a little bit bigger. Bruised and battered, Edward is at his most beautiful, and beautiful is a fine word to describe the artwork. Ibatoulline outdoes himself; his precisely rendered sepia-tone drawings and color plates of high artistic merit are an integral part of this handsomely designed package. Yet even standing alone, the story soars because of DiCamillo's lyrical use of language and her understanding of universal yearnings. This will be a pleasure to read aloud.

Cooper, I. (2006). [Review of the book The miraculous journey of edward tulane, by K. DiCamillo]. Booklist Online. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/The-Miraculous-Journey-of-Edward-Tulane-Kate-DiCamillo/pid=1574791.

• Library Use: This book would be ideal to use to do a character study. Discussing how a character changes throughout a story; have groups of students make an anchor chart with beginning, middle, and end labeled. Identify the main character’s (Edward) strengths and weaknesses, events that occur that cause the character to think differently about life, and how the character shows growth.

Reference:
Bucher, K., & Hinton, K. (2014). Young adult literature: Exploration, evaluation, and appreciation (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.