Gentle & Sincere
Margery Williams' writing style is about as soft as velveteen in this story. Her words are ultra heartfelt and mega compassionate. You can feel her empathy for the little Velveteen Rabbit in just about every paragraph.
Check out this one:
He thought of those long sunlit hours in the garden–how happy they were—and a great sadness came over him. He seemed to see them all pass before him, each more beautiful than the other, the fairy huts in the flower-bed, the quiet evenings in the wood when he lay in the bracken and the little ants ran over his paws; the wonderful day when he first knew that he was Real. He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he had told him. Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this? (63)
That's some deep stuff right there. Not only is this character in a children's book contemplating his own death (yikes!), the author is really taking us through his thinking in the most heart-wrenching way possible. She's presenting the Rabbit as such a figure of gentleness and compassion. How do you not feel sorry for him?
There are not a lot of children's authors that could pull this style off without coming off as morbid, but Margery Williams totally nails it.