SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • *Best New Books*
    • Annual Best Lists
  • Reviews
    • One Star Review
    • Nonfiction
    • Toon Reviews
  • Articles
    • Authors
    • Link Du Jour
  • Covers
    • Covering the Newbery
    • Cover Curiosity
    • Unfortunate Covers
  • News
    • Books on Film
    • Morning Notes
  • Newsletter

June 5, 2013 by Travis Jonker

The Mystery of the 71 Year Old Velveteen Rabbit

June 5, 2013 by Travis Jonker   6 comments

You know how you can see something, yet not really notice it? That’s what happened when I came upon this book during an end of the year weeding session in my K-2 school library:

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

In the course of weeding, I’ve come across older books that have quietly stuck around – mostly because they’re classics and no one had the heart to take them off the shelves or update the copy, despite being seriously dated. I had seen this one before, but had never looked at it closely. I opened the front cover to see if I could find when it was added to the library. I was surprised with what I saw:

While weeding I’ve seen books in our collection from the 80s and 70s – but early 40s? This was a first. That’s 71 years old. FYI, here’s what was happening in the world in 1942:

  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President.
  • Muhammad Ali was born.
  • The United States was involved in World War II.
  • The film Casablanca premiered.
  • The fifth Caldecott Medal was awarded to Make Way for Ducklings.

The date made me wonder when The Velveteen Rabbit was published, and if we had a truly rare book on our hands. A quick search revealed that the first edition came out in 1922. I knew our copy was added to the library in 1942, but could the book be older? Unfortunately, the cryptic copyright page didn’t offer too many clues:

All I had to go on was the “CL” (which in Roman numerals equals 150) above the title. I went to used and rare bookseller AbeBooks to see what I could find. There I stumbled upon a listing for a first edition:

That perked my ears up a bit. While I knew our copy was likely far from a first edition, jacketless, and full of library markings, I felt profits from its sale could still (conservative scenario) pay for a second story and/or book carwash to be added to the library.

(video via Book Patrol)

I included the “CL” in my search and came back down to earth:

While I know ours was printed, at the latest, in the early 40s (while this listing is for a copy published in the 50s), this is the only mention of the “CL” I could find, so I’m assuming this is somewhere in the ballpark of our copy. Mystery (probably) solved.

I turned to the back of the book and pulled out the date due card:

Scanning the names, it made me wonder if these folks are still around, and where they might be. Maybe one of them remembers visiting their school library and picking a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit off the shelf, over half a century ago.

Filed under: Articles

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

February 2023

Notes on January 2023

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

Your 2023 Caldecott Comment Card

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

Who's Published the Most Newbery Winners in the Last 25 Years?

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

2023 Caldecott Medal Predictions

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

The Ten Most Eye-Opening Caldecott Books of All Time

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Sydney Taylor Blog Tour: THE TOWER OF LIFE by Chana Stiefel and Susan Gal

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Who’s In Rabbit’s House by Verna Aardema, ill. Leo and Diane Dillon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Akim Aliu Dreamer | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

What’s Coming in 2023, A Feedback Poll, and Goodbye for Now…

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

I Spy Something Awkward, a guest post by James Ponti

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Three Action-Packed Adventures for Fans of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

Four Breezy YA Summer Reads for Fans of 'Along for the Ride' on Netflix | Read-Alikes

Four YA Romances for Teens Watching 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'

Four Magical Middle Grade Novels for 'Encanto' Fans| Read-Alikes

Sports-Forward Books for Fans of the Movie "Space Jam: A New Legacy" | Read-Alikes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lauren says

    June 5, 2013 at 10:42 am

    This book always makes me think of my late father-in-law, who was born in 1931.

  2. Nathan Hale says

    June 5, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    Jimmy Gulch went on to become a mid-level gang enforcer.

  3. Fuse #8 says

    June 5, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    Doggone it, Nathan Hale. You completely stole my Jimmy Gulch line. I like that our minds went to the same place, though.

  4. Mary Ann Scheuer says

    June 6, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    I just found a copy of TALES FROM GRIMM by Wanda Gag – beautifully old as well, 1936 copyright. Abe Books tells me that the 7th printing was from 1947 (thanks for that link!!), and it was added to our library in 1959, which was when my dad went to this school. Just amazing the history stored in our walls…

  5. Elizabeth Walker says

    June 6, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    That is a remarkable find! I have some Beverly Clearys from the 50s (which I promptly “weeded and appropriated for my own use”) and every year I stumble upon something old and crumbly. Love that old book smell.

    That said, the Velveteen Rabbit was one of my least favourite stories when I was a kid. I found it monumentally depressing and very disturbing at the end, when they burn the rabbit.

    *shudder*

  6. PS Karr says

    June 7, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    Do they have index cards like the one in your picture? I used to love seeing who else had checked the book out. Now its all ‘in the system’ on a computer..

    that’s why I like reading old books bought from a thrift store or library.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • Author/Illustrator Blogs

    • Erin Stead Illustration
    • Hey, Rabbit!
    • James Preller's Blog
    • MATTHEWCORDELLBLOGS
    • Mo Willems Doodles
    • The Scop
  • Book Blogs I Like

    • A Book and a Hug
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • A Kids Book a Day
    • A Year of Reading
    • Abby (the) Librarian
    • Awful Library Books
    • Becky’s Book Reviews
    • Better Book Titles
    • Book-A-Day Almanac
    • Bookends
    • books4yourkids.com
    • bookshelves of doom
    • Bottom Shelf Books
    • Calling Caldecott
    • Caustic Cover Critic
    • Chad C. Beckerman
    • Charlotte’s Library
    • Cheryl Rainfield
    • Chicken Spaghetti
    • CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION
    • Collecting Children’s Books
    • Cybils
    • EarlyWord
    • educating alice
    • Finding Wonderland
    • For Those About to Mock
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Good Show Sir
    • GottaBook
    • Great Kid Books
    • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
    • Hi Miss Julie!
    • Jen Robinson’s Book Page
    • Kidsmomo
    • Maria T. Middleton Design
    • Nerdy Book Club
    • Neverending Search
    • Nine Kinds of Pie
    • One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books
    • Out of the Box
    • Oz and Ends
    • PlanetEsme
    • Read Roger
    • Reading Rants!
    • Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
    • sharpread
    • ShelfTalker
    • so tomorrow
    • The Children's Book Review
    • The Miss Rumphius Effect
    • Uncovered Cover Art
    • Waking Brain Cells
    • Watch. Connect. Read.
  • Library Blogs

    • ALSC Blog
    • Blue Skunk Blog
    • librarian.net
    • LISNews
    • Stephen's Lighthouse
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Unshelved
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023