Of Cabbages & Kings

THE VELVETEEN RABBIT Hopping into a Theatre Near You This Holiday Season--and Worth the Journey! THE VELVETEEN RABBIT is making a fresh new appearance at Sycamore Rouge Theatre (seen right). To enjoy a new take on an old friend, head on down to Petersburg, Virginia, just a 20 mile journey south from downtown Richmond, at 21 West Old Street in Petersburg. You all know this classic children's story: Margery Williams' beloved book about a Velveteen Rabbit, a forgotten Christmas gift that is ultimately transformed into the world of "real" through a young boy's love. This sounds like it has all the markings of a memorable production your entire family will applaud. Dec 7th through Dec. 22nd. Tickets are $18, $14 for children (12 and under). Performances are on Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Enjoy a FREE PREVIEW on Dec. 14 at Friday for the Arts! where you can enjoy snippets of the play. To make reservations, call: 804-957-5707 or email: mail@sycamorerouge.org. I found out about this fresh adaptation while at a stimulating gathering of women friends and colleagures recently. Invited by my Theatre Professor from the Ph.D. program I am currently enrolled in at Virginia Commonwealth University, within five minutes of entering the room I found myself deep in conversation with the adapter and director of this new musical version of an old classic, kb saine--we enjoyed a vigorous conversation about the exciting topic of copyright laws, of all things, as they pertain to classics such as THE VELVETEEN RABBIT--mainly because of my own interest in adapting another classic. Hearing that this new version included freshly written jazz and blues music by Roddy Barnes, as well as some unique puppetry and masks, I couldn't help but judge this a perfect chance to make a family memory, give my children a special treat, and evaluate a new adaptation of this classic tale. (Need to refresh your memory of this narrative? Visit: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/williams/rabbit/rabbit.html.

To find out a few facts about William Nicholson, British painter, 1872-1949, who is remembered in part for his definitive illustrations for The Velveteen Rabbit as shown above , visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nicholson_%28artist%29)

The Velveteen Rabbit: Or, How Toys Become Real, by Margery Williams, Illustrations by Don Daily, Reading level: Ages 9-12, Hardcover: 53 pages, Publisher: Courage Bks.; Revised edition (September 24, 2007), Language: English, Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 10 x 0.5 inche With the full intention of taking my family to this production of The Velveteen Rabbit--it seemed only logical that I add an edition of this tale to my children's picture book collection. For some unknown reason, this tale was not one to which I had been introduced as a child--and though I was familiar in a vague way with the general plot--I felt the need for my own personal discovery experience with this well-known narrative. When I came across the above edition of the book a few days after hearing about the new musical I decided to purchase it to read for myself and to share with my children this Holiday Season. The version I purchased utilizes the vision of Don Daily as illustrator, rather than the original and affectionately-remembered version first given to us by British painter, William Nicholson. Still, this edition is a truly elegant and beautiful rendering of the tale, laid out in a classic manner, with tall stately proportions and a bookjacket background of rich scarlet patterned art paper (matt-varnished) overprinted with gold-foil stamped flourished title and central cover image of the spotted stuffed rabbit peeking over a knitted stocking hanging at a glowing fireplace. This central illustration catches the reader's eye with a high-gloss spot varnish and the entire cover design is framed with an elegant embellished double-ruled border. The body of the book maintains the elegance of the cover with most pages displaying a full-page luminously realistic watercolor illustration that bleeds off the page on all sides. Don Daily's illustrations are meticulously realistic, and throughout this book seem to glow with a golden light--an effect that brings to mind the "golden glow of childhood" and frequently is accomplished with an underpainted wash over the entire illustration. Daily also effectively uses translucent shadow to reinforce the feeling of light the reader absorbs from each illustration. Just twice in the book the page uses only vignette illustrations in the corners framing the text. Also, twice there are double-page spread full-bleed illustrations with no text. These are painted beautifully, and the only down-side of these double-page images is that the text is not divided as thoughtfully as it could have been before these special features. For example, the first time there is a double-page image, the text before it mentions the boy coming to the garden, but then meanders for a line or two, breaking in mid-sentence without really setting the reader up for the following glorious double-page view of the boy in the garden with his stuffed rabbit. Such a page break in mid-sentence doesn't normally matter, except that the reader has to skip two more pages, because of the illustration, before continuing with the running text--and the final line of the previous page did not adequately set the reader up for the image they would be enjoying. The second time a double-page image is used, it shows the gardener with a bag of old toys he is supposed to burn, as the boy's room is being cleansed after his bout with scarlet fever--except that the text has not yet come to that point when the reader sees the image. As a typographer, I could not help thinking that the book was laid out so beautifully, with such classic grace, that these minor problems could well have been corrected. Still, the pages are graceful in proportion with spacious margins. The classic appeal of the serif text is enhanced with full justified margins and spacious extra leading between the lines of text. The top and bottom of each page of text is bordered with a spring-green double rule and a running book title with extra letter-spacing in all capital letters. Each chapter of the story begins with a large initial capital letter and oversized first line of large and small capital text in the afore-mentioned spring green that then becomes a slightly smaller-over sized large and small capitals for another line or two in black, and then melds into the capitals and lower case of the regular body text for overall ease of reading. This is a classic, yet create use of typography that enhances the impact of the book--and it was accomplished very successfully except for one small glitch on page nineteen when the word "wheelbarrow" at the end of the third line of all capitals introducing a chapter is hyphenated and then continued in capitals and lower case on the next line--once again, a small inconsistency in typographic design that I thought should and could have been corrected. Margery Williams (1880- 1944) wrote The Velveteen Rabbit in 1922--her first book for children, and an instant classic, although some critics thought it too romantic or sentimental a tale. In 1925 she wrote a tale that featured her son's name: Poor Cecco: The Wonderful Story of a Wonderful Wooden Dog Who Was the Jolliest Toy in the House Until He Went Out to Explore the World (1925)--quite a memorable and lively story inspite of its never-ending title, and thought, by some, to be more of a classic than its better-remembered predecessor--perhaps, in part, due to the exquisite Arthur Rackham illustrations. Another of her tales, The Little Wooden Doll, 1925, was illustrated by her daughter, Pamela (right), an artist in her own right and painter of the portrait of her mother shown above left (click on the portrait to see more of Pamela's work). These stories, along with her 1927 effort, The Skin Horse (who makes an important appearance in The Velveteen Rabbit), focus on the lives of the toys with which children play. Williams went on later to write young adult novels and to be a Newberry Honor Medalist in 1937 for her YA story, Winterbound, a story about two girls who unexpectedly have to take care of their home and family when their parents are away without warning. For more information on Margery Williams Bianco, and a full list of her other books, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Williams.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Williams

Do Don Daily (1940-2002) just recently passed away, and is well-respected for his illustrated versions of several collections of classic tales, as well as for his poster designs. For more information on this illustrator, visit: http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/runningpress/author_detail.jsp?id=1000030540. To purchase a rare copy of Poor Cecco illustrated by Arthur Rackham, visit: http://www.bkkbooks.com/.