The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams ________________________________________ The Velveteen Rabbit starts out on Christmas morning. A young boy finds a stuffed rabbit nestled in his stocking. He loves the rabbit but forgets about him when more glamorous and expensive Christmas presents arrive. But chance will intervene twice in this magical story about childhood toys and the transformative power of love. We feature it in Christmas Stories for Children. THERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy’s stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming. There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.