I have Friends (the TV series) to thank for first introducing me to The Velveteen Rabbit. That scene where Joey asks Chandler to buy a gift for Kathy (his girlfriend), and Chandler buys her a rare first edition of her favorite childhood book, The Velveteen Rabbit - well, it stuck with me.
At the time, I had never read The Velveteen Rabbit, but the title lodged itself somewhere in my mind. It would be years - many years (and probably a hundred rewatches of that episode because, yes, I’m a huge Friends fan) - before I finally picked it up. And once I did, I never looked back.
Margery Williams writes with an effortlessness that makes you feel as though the words simply spilled from her pen, fully formed, perfect and of their own accord. She takes a simple, universal childhood belief, the certainty that our toys are real, that they have lives of their own when we’re not looking, and turns it into something deeply moving. Something that lingers.
My favourite moment in the entire story is the first conversation we witness between the Velveteen Rabbit and the wise old Skin Horse. The rabbit, full of innocent curiosity, asks:
"What is REAL?"
And the Skin Horse answers:
"Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
This conversation is everything. The innocence of the rabbit, the purity of his questions; there’s something so reminiscent of a child’s way of thinking. That unfiltered curiosity, the need to understand every single why.
And then there’s the Skin Horse. Wise, gentle, unflinchingly honest. He says my favorite line when the rabbit asks him if becoming Real happens all at once.
"It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept."
I think that’s why this story stays with me, because the Skin Horse isn’t just talking about toys. He’s talking about us. About how realness, the kind that matters, doesn’t come from being pristine or perfect. It comes from being loved. From being worn down by life in the best possible way, shaped by experience and softened by time.
And isn’t that the most comforting thought? That being real has nothing to do with how polished or put-together we are. That we don’t have to be carefully kept, or untouchable, or flawless. We are already real. Maybe a little scuffed and shabby, a little weathered, but loved. And that makes all the difference.
So, I’ll end this the only way I can, with the Skin Horse’s immortal words:
“Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”
Introducing The Rest Score
As someone who loves stories; not just for how they sound, but for how they feel, I wanted a way to reflect that in every sleep story I share.
So, starting today, I’ll be giving each story a Rest Score. It’s not about how well it puts you to sleep (because, let’s be honest, all of these stories are chosen with rest in mind). Instead, it's my personal rating on how much this story stirs something within me, and, hopefully, in you too.
How deeply I fell in love with the story and its characters, how beautifully it’s written, how much it lingers in my mind long after the final word.
It's a reflection of how much I love the story - its writing, its impact, and how long it lingers in my mind after the final word is read. Simply put, the Rest Score is my personal take on how great I think it is.
And with that, here’s the very first score -
Rest Score: 📖📖📖📖📖 (5/5)
A gentle and heartwarming classic that tugs at your heartstrings. Beautifully written, deeply meaningful, with a message that stays with you long after the last page has been read.
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