The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane

The kids are finally old enough to follow a story from day to day. And so, we've graduated from picture books to chapter books. We recently finished this book by Kate DiCamillo. It started out with a character that was not very likable, Edward Tulane is a beautifully crafted china rabbit, a child's toy too fragile for rough play. Instead, his devoted owner, a little girl named Abilene, carefully dressed him each day and wound his pocket watch each night. Edward was certain that he was a beautiful creature and spent his days and nights happily doted upon by dear Abilene.

Through a tragic accident, Edward's life was changed in an instant, and this is when the miraculous journey begins. I won't say more, I don't want to ruin the story. But I will say this, after a few weeks of reading, we were all deeply invested in Edward's story and in the end, we were heartbroken and then overjoyed, Shelly and I were both in tears as I read the final pages of the book.

Archer picked a great story and we all enjoyed it as the story carried us along night after night. Every night, the kids begged for another chapter and every night I wanted to read ahead to find out what happened next. Twenty seven chapters later, we finished together. What a treasure to share our evenings together this way!