The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Edward Tulane is a china rabbit who lives in a house on Egypt Street, with ears of real rabbit fur, a closet of silk suits and a gold pocket watch. His owner, Abilene, dresses him every morning and tells him she loves him, and Edward accepts it all as his due. Only her grandmother, Pellegrina, seems to see through him, and she tells a strange bedtime story about a princess who loved no one.

Then, on a family voyage aboard the Queen Mary, Edward goes over the side and sinks to the bottom of the sea. A fisherman's net brings him back up, and so begins a journey of many years. He lives with an old fisherman and his wife, rides the rails with a wanderer and his dog, stands guard in a vegetable garden as a scarecrow, and comforts a sick little girl named Sarah Ruth and her devoted older brother, Bryce. With each new home the proud rabbit discovers something he has never felt before: what it is to miss someone.

Short chapters, lovely color plates and a hopeful ending. Around 228 pages, an ideal read-aloud for ages seven and up.