The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

Merry Christmas! A child receives a special gift in his stocking: a velvet rabbit. (Much better than coal.) At first he's excited about the little stuffed animal, but then the toy goes into the toy box with all his other toys.

The Velveteen Rabbit is nice with it though. Most of the toys in the nursery don't talk to him, but wise old Skin Horse tells him all about what it's like to be True. You see, when a child has loved you for a long time and plays with you and wears you out, then you become Real. The Rabbit isn't quite sure about the whole "wear and tear" part, but someday he'd really like to be Royal. #ToyGoals

One night, Nana, the kindergarten manager, gives the boy the velvet rabbit to sleep with. After that, the boy and the rabbit become best friends. The Rabbit's fur is starting to wear out and his seams are peeling from too much love, but he doesn't care. One day, the boy tells Nana that his rabbit is not a toy, it is real. The rabbit is super excited. He has finally achieved Real status. Way to keep it 100, Rabbit.

In the summer, the Velveteen Rabbit is playing outside with the Boy when a group of wild rabbits approaches him. They want to play with him, but the Rabbit can't move because he's just a stuffed animal. Eventually the rabbits realize that the Velveteen Rabbit is not a wild rabbit like them and run away. This almost breaks poor Rabbit's little heart. It's ours.

Eventually, the boy falls ill with scarlet fever. The rabbit stays in bed with him until he recovers. But the day before the Boy is supposed to leave for the sea, the Rabbit feels he needs to be burned. Apparently he's covered in germs.

So this whole thing about being real didn't work out so well for the rabbit. He sits in the toy bag waiting to be thrown into a bonfire and cries. From his one true tear a flower fairy grows. This fairy tells the rabbit that she was already real for the boy, but now she will make it real for everyone. Point. The fairy brings the velvet rabbit to a group of wild rabbits in the woods and tells them to watch out for her friend. She then she gives him a kiss and he leaves and jumps with the other wild rabbits.

Later, the boy is out playing in the woods near his home and runs into some wild rabbits. One looks super familiar. He reminds him of a rabbit he had before he got sick. Of course we know that he is the Velveteen Rabbit and that he has returned to find his special friend who helped him become real.