BECOMING REAL

On the heels of The Velveteen Rabbit’s centenary comes a beautiful picture book about its author, Margery Williams.

Golden’s sensitive text traces Williams’ life from her childhood in London, where her father encouraged her creativity, to her years in New York after his death and into her adulthood, when she wrote The Velveteen Rabbit in the aftermath of World War I. These milestones are underscored by thematic throughlines about the value of imagination and the power of love. Escobar’s accompanying illustrations are reminiscent of those of Barbara Cooney or the Provensens, though embellished with collages by her own daughter to evoke Williams’ girlhood creativity and that of her children. Brief excerpts from her famous work appear in italicized text on several pages, reinforcing key emotions and events to suggest ways that Williams’ experiences may have influenced that now-classic story. The scene about Williams’ father’s death, for instance, is accompanied by a brief conversation between two characters from the book: “‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit. ‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful.” As accomplished as words and pictures are, it’s a shame to see no reference to The Velveteen Rabbit’s art—neither the first images in a magazine by Williams’ own young daughter, Pamela Bianco, nor William Nicholson’s in the 1922 book. Despite this omission, however, there’s much to love here.

Poignant and warm, just like the book that inspired it.