The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

When reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, we have created question sets linked to each chapter in the book. You can choose whether to complete them online or print them off to complete with your Year 4 / Year 5 class.

Our resources can be used to accompany your planning and meet the needs of all abilities as our questions are differentiated. All learning packs follow the same structure:

Q1-Q4: Retrieval based
Q5-Q8: SPAG based
Q9-Q12: Inference, Sequencing, Summarising and other deeper level questions.

Story Synopsis
Edward Tulane is a beautiful, proud, and finely dressed china rabbit who belongs to a little girl named Abilene. He loves being admired but doesn’t know how to love others in return. One day, while on a trip, Edward is accidentally thrown overboard into the ocean—and so begins his incredible adventure!

Edward is lost and found many times, travelling from place to place. He meets kind and lonely people—a fisherman, a hobo, a sick little girl—who each teach him something about love and loss. Through joy and heartbreak, Edward slowly changes, learning to open his heart.

After years of being lost, broken, and forgotten, Edward’s journey leads him to a surprising and heartwarming ending, where he finally understands what it truly means to love and be loved in return.

Chapter 1 Summary

Edward Tulane is a proud and elegant china rabbit who belongs to a ten-year-old girl named Abilene. He is beautifully crafted, with fine clothes, real fur ears, and a gold pocket watch that Abilene winds for him each morning. Though she adores him and treats him like a real companion, Edward thinks mostly of himself, enjoying his own reflection and the admiration he receives. He spends his days sitting in a chair by the window, waiting for Abilene to return from school, and his evenings at the dining table with the Tulane family. While Abilene’s parents find her attachment to Edward amusing, her grandmother, Pellegrina, treats him with quiet seriousness.

At night, Pellegrina tucks Abilene and Edward into bed, sometimes promising a story “soon.” Before falling asleep, Abilene always whispers, “I love you, Edward,” hoping for a response, though Edward remains silent, unable—and perhaps unwilling—to return her love. With his painted-on eyes, he stays awake all night, sometimes gazing at the stars, which bring him an unfamiliar sense of comfort. Though Edward seems content with his fine life, something in Pellegrina’s gaze suggests that change is coming—something that might teach him what love truly means.

Summary – Chapter 2

Edward Tulane’s days passed without much excitement, but there were a few unpleasant incidents that deeply offended his pride. One day, the neighbor’s dog, Rosie, barged into the house, urinated on the dining table, and then grabbed Edward in his jaws, shaking him fiercely. Edward was horrified—not only had he been treated like a chew toy, but Abilene’s mother seemed more upset about the tablecloth than his suffering. Another time, a new maid, not understanding Edward’s importance, vacuumed him aggressively, even sucking up his ears and accidentally swallowing his precious gold pocket watch. Worse still, she carelessly tossed him onto a shelf among the dolls, leaving him in an uncomfortable position while they giggled at him.

When Abilene finally found Edward, she hugged him tightly, vowing never to let him be taken from her again. Edward, however, felt no gratitude—only irritation at being treated like an ordinary object. The only silver lining was that the careless maid was fired, and his pocket watch was recovered, though slightly dented. For Edward, these humiliating events were the biggest hardships he had ever faced—until the night of Abilene’s eleventh birthday, when a conversation about a ship would change everything.

Summary – Chapter 3

One evening at dinner, Abilene’s father announced that they would be sailing on a grand ship called The Queen Mary all the way to London. Abilene was excited but immediately thought of Edward, asking if he would be coming too. Her mother hesitated, saying Abilene was getting too old for a china rabbit, but her father reassured her, joking that Edward would be needed to protect her. Edward, usually uninterested in the family’s conversations, was forced to pay attention when Abilene lifted him onto her lap. From this new vantage point, he noticed Pellegrina staring at him with an intense, almost unsettling gaze—one that sent a strange shiver through him.

That night, when Abilene asked for a bedtime story as she always did, Pellegrina finally agreed. Abilene insisted that Edward should hear it too, and Pellegrina, still watching him closely, said she agreed. As Abilene tucked Edward into bed beside her, Pellegrina began the story, saying it was about a princess—one who was very beautiful. When Abilene asked how beautiful, Pellegrina simply told her to listen, because everything would be revealed in the story.

Summary Chapter 4

Pellegrina’s story was about a beautiful princess who did not love anyone, despite being loved by many. When a prince declared his love and gave her a gold ring, she swallowed it in defiance and ran away into the woods. Lost and desperate, she found a witch’s hut and demanded help, but the witch only asked her one question: whom did she love? The princess proudly declared that she loved no one. Disappointed, the witch uttered a single word, transforming the princess into a warthog.

Later, the king’s men, searching for the princess, found the warthog instead and shot it. When the castle cook butchered the animal, she discovered the gold ring inside its belly and placed it on her finger, continuing her work. And that, Pellegrina declared, was the end of the story.

Abilene protested—it wasn’t a proper ending, she insisted, because no one lived happily ever after. But Pellegrina only replied, “How can a story end happily if there is no love?” Then she tucked Edward into his bed, leaned in close, and whispered something that sent a chill through him: “You disappoint me.”

Edward lay awake, unsettled. He thought the story was pointless—like most stories. But the image of the princess-turned-warthog disturbed him. He wished Pellegrina had placed him on his side so he could look at the stars. And then, strangely, he found comfort in the words she had used to describe the princess: as bright as the stars on a moonless night. He repeated the phrase over and over until dawn arrived.

Summary Chapter 5

THE HOUSE ON EGYPT STREET became frantic with activity as the Tulane family prepared for their voyage to England. Edward possessed a small trunk, and Abilene packed it for him, 􏰀lling it with his 􏰀nest suits and several of his best hats and three pairs of shoes, all so that he might cut a 􏰀ne 􏰀gure in London. Before she placed each out􏰀t in the trunk, she displayed it to him.
“Do you like this shirt with this suit?” she asked him.
Or, “Would you like to wear your black derby? You look very handsome in it. Shall we pack it?”
And then, finally, on a bright Saturday morning in May, Edward and Abilene and Mr. and Mrs. Tulane were all onboard the ship, standing at the railing. Pellegrina was at the dock. On her head, she wore a floppy hat strung around with flowers. She stared straight at Edward. Her dark eyes glowed.
“Goodbye,” Abilene shouted to her
“Goodbye,” Abilene shouted to her grandmother. “I love you.”
The ship pulled away from the dock. Pellegrina waved to Abilene.
“Goodbye, lady,” she called, “goodbye.”
Edward felt something damp in his ears. Abilene’s tears, he supposed. He wished that she would not hold him so tight. To be clutched so fiercely often resulted in wrinkled clothing. Finally, all the people on land, including Pellegrina, dis-appeared. Edward, for one, was relieved to see the last of her.
As was to be expected, Edward Tulane exacted much attention onboard the ship.
“What a singular rabbit,” said an elderly lady with three strings of pearls wrapped around her neck. She bent down to look more closely at Edward.
“Thank you,” said Abilene.
Several little girls onboard gave Edward deep glances full of longing. They asked Abilene if they might hold him.
“No,” said Abilene, “I’m afraid that he’s

not the kind of rabbit who likes to be held by strangers.”
Two young boys, brothers named Martin and Amos, took a particular interest in Edward.
“What does he do?” Martin asked Abilene on their second day at sea. He pointed at Edward who was sitting on a deck chair with his long legs stretched in front of him.
“He doesn’t do anything,” said Abilene.
“Does he wind up somewhere?” asked Amos.
up.”“No,” said Abilene, “he does not wind
“What’s the point of him then?” said Martin.
“The point is that he is Edward,” said Abilene.
“That’s not much of a point,” said Amos.
“It’s not,” agreed Martin. And then, after a long thoughtful pause, he said, “I wouldn’t let anybody dress me like that.”
“Me neither,” said Amos.
“Do his clothes come off?” asked Martin.

“Do his clothes come off?” asked Martin.
“Of course they do,” said Abilene. “He has many different outfits. And he has his own pajamas, too. They are made of silk.”
Edward, as usual, was disregarding the conversation. A breeze was blowing in off the sea, and the silk scarf wrapped around his neck billowed out behind him. On his head, he wore a straw boater. The rabbit was thinking that he must look quite dashing.
It came as a total surprise to him when he was grabbed off the deck chair and first his scarf, and then his jacket and pants, were ripped from his body. He heard his pocket watch hit the deck of the ship; and then, held upside down, he watched the watch roll merrily toward Abilene’s feet.
“Look at him,” said Martin. “He’s even got underwear.” He held Edward aloft so that Amos could see.
“Take it off,” shouted Amos.
“NO!!!!” screamed Abilene.
Martin removed Edward’s underwear.
Edward was paying attention now. He was

Edward was paying attention now. He was mortified. He was completely naked except for the hat on his head, and the other passengers onboard the ship were looking at him, directing curious and embarrassed glances his
way.“Give him to me,” screamed Abilene. “He’s mine.”
“No,” said Amos to Martin, “give him to me.” He clapped his hands together and then held them open. “Toss him,” he said.
“Please,” cried Abilene. “Don’t throw him. He’s made of china. He’ll break.”
Martin threw Edward.
And Edward sailed naked through the air. Only a moment ago, the rabbit had thought that being naked in front of a shipload of strangers was the worst thing that could happen to him. But he was wrong. It was much worse being tossed, in the same naked state, from the hands of one grubby, laughing boy to another.
Amos caught Edward and held him up,

displaying him triumphantly.
“Throw him back,” called Martin. Amos raised his arm, but just as he was
getting ready to throw Edward, Abilene tackled him, shoving her head into his stomach, and upsetting the boy’s aim.
So it was that Edward did not go flying back into the dirty hands of Martin.
Instead, Edward Tulane went overboard.

Summary

Edward tumbled through the air, hearing Abilene’s distant cry—“Edward, come back!”—but there was no way to return. As he fell, he saw her standing at the ship’s railing, holding something up. It gleamed in the sunlight—his gold pocket watch.

Then he hit the water. The impact sent his hat flying—so that answers that question, he thought—as he began to sink. He drifted downward, the blue water fading to green, then to a deep, endless black. He could not close his eyes. He could not move.

Above him, the ship sailed on. Below, he finally came to rest on the ocean floor, face-down in the cold, murky darkness.

For the first time in his life, Edward Tulane felt something real.

He was afraid.

Summary

Edward waits on the ocean floor, convinced that Abilene will come for him. Days, weeks, and months pass, but she never arrives. With nothing else to do, he begins to think about the stars, wondering if they still shine even though he cannot see them. His thoughts drift to Pellegrina and the story of the princess-turned-warthog. He starts to believe that Pellegrina, like the witch, is punishing him, though he doesn’t understand why.

On the 297th day, a violent storm erupts, lifting Edward off the seabed and throwing him into a chaotic, spinning dance. The waves toss him up and down, battering him relentlessly. At one point, the storm flings him above the water, where he glimpses the dark, stormy sky. The wind rushes past his ears, sounding eerily like Pellegrina’s laughter. Before he can fully process the moment, he is pulled back into the depths.

As he begins sinking again, a fisherman’s net suddenly scoops him up, rescuing him from the ocean floor. Two fishermen, one old and one young, examine the strange object caught in their net. The older man recognizes Edward as a rabbit toy and decides to take him home to his wife, Nellie, who can fix him up and find a child to care for him.

As the boat heads toward shore, Edward feels the warmth of the sun on his face and the wind through the tattered fur on his ears. For the first time in a long while, a wonderful feeling fills his chest—he is glad to be alive.