**To view spoilers, drag your mouse over the empty space between"<SPOILER>...<SPOILER>"This is a book about a self absorbed rabbit who has a perfect life. Then the reality of the cold harsh world comes crashing down on him in the most unpleasant way.
It has a pretty simply and almost repetitive plot like most of Kate DiCamillo's books, but I enjoyed it.
For one thing, it's really short. I finished it in under two hours. It has interesting illustrations and the writing was almost poetic at times. So, if you're looking to add another easy book to your 2014 reading challenge, I recommend this.
Now, let's talk about this book.
<SPOILERS> Well, this is . . .a book.
Some nice things I can say about the book is:
-The characters were interesting and all had their own stories, which is just a key element in any book by Kate DiCamillo.
-The illustrations helped to visualize what was going on.
-The writing was pretty.
-It carries a decent message. I'm sure other people might have found different messages from this book, but I got "Things can always be worse, so you better be thankful for what you have."
Some not-so-nice things I can say about this book:
-It was repetitive. Edward gets attached to someone. A terrible thing happens and Edward loses that person. Edward gets attached to someone else, even though he swears he won't. Edward loses that person. Then, the cycle repeats.
-Some of the characters were really unreasonable. The restaurant guy who broke Edward's face was unreasonable. A real restaurant owner (or manager, a small detail I'm unsure of) would want to keep a decent image and maybe not make a big scene about crushing the dreams of children.
-Some other things that happened in the book happened purely for the sake of the plot. Correct me if I'm wrong, but not many storms are strong enough to pick things up from the ocean floor. And why would anyone be fishing during a storm that strong anyway? And why would a perfectly sane woman (Nellie's daughter) talk to an inanimate object and conveniently explain what she's doing?
-Predictable plot twist at the end, but I also think that's the only way the story could end and I'd be satisfied.
But still.
Some other things I thought while reading the book:
-That hobo guy is definitely on something. No sane man would keep a toy rabbit for seven years and make clothes for it, unless he were trying to make his daughter happy.
-Why are all dolls such jerks? Sure, Edward went on a miraculous journey and discovered that he's not the center of the universe and has become kind of jaded in the process, but what are all of the other doll's excuses?
-Why does Edward's gender keep changing? First he's a fancy guy, then he's a puuurddy girl, then he's a tomboy, then he's just treated as a genderless scarecrow, then I lost track of what they called him after that.
Overall, I liked the book. I didn't love it, and I didn't want to throw it across the room out of rage. What did you think? <SPOILERS>
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