The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo Book Review

Can you imagine a china rabbit who used to be a cruel, rude, and self-centered person but learned to love a hobo, have compassion for an old woman named Nellie, or have humility for a sick little girl sucking on his ears? That rabbit's name is Edward. During his journey, he gained and learned the importance of many virtues, including love, compassion, and humility.

Throughout Edward Tulane's entire journey, he has slowly begun to learn and attain the value of love; and that is important in our daily lives. One example of Edward's love is that he missed Nellie and Lawrence and wanted to be with them. He had spent time with them and once he become separated from them, he started to love them. As a reader, I see that when Edward remained stuck in a garbage dump, he learned to care for others. Once he realized he had not loved Abilene enough, Edward chose to love her as if he were apologizing. Soon after, he traveled with Bull and his dog and spent seven years with them. But one day he was thrown out. He did not want to lose Bull, and this displayed that Edward enjoyed being with him. One day Edward desired to fly away to a girl named Sara Ruth. But Sara Ruth was gone it made Edward love and miss her even more. 

Edward had remarkably changed, and now has compassion for others. Compassion is something people cannot live without. Despite Edward's hate for dogs, he felt compassion for a dog named Lucy. He felt a deep tenderness for her. That happened because he got to know Lucy through the seven years. Also, Edward knew what it was like to say the names of those you loved so, he listened to the hobos and felt compassion for them. He listened to them because he had also been loved and separated from the people who loved him. Though Edward did not like intrusive and clingy behaviors, he did not care if he hugged half to death because he had compassion for Sara Ruth and wanted to do more for her. Additionally, Edward listened to Nellie. By listening, he showed compassion for her, and he listened as if his life depended on it. 

It is fascinating that Edward was able to go from being self-centered to having humility for all types of people. Humility means accepting the things you cannot change. If we did not have humility, everyone would be arguing about everything. For example, Edward thought that someone sucking his ears was not correct. But then, Edward acknowledged it; this shows humility! Although Edward was horrified at being a girl, he realized it was better than being stuck in the ocean. Edward only learned humility because he was stuck in the ocean. Also, though Edward did not like being held by a dog he recognized that he was saved he became happy. Edward also disliked being described as "it" because he did not think of himself as an object but as a living being. Until one day he had humility and did not mind being defined as "it" because he had experienced difficult events. 

Reading this book has reminded me that we need virtues in our daily life. It also reminded me that people can grow and change. Just as Edward obtained many holy habits such as love, compassion, and humility.