Part 3
The net belongs to Lawrence, an old fisherman, who carries the mud-caked rabbit home to his wife Nellie in their small cottage by the sea. What follows would once have outraged Edward: Nellie sews him a garment — a dress — and gives him a new name, Susanna. But something in Edward has changed. Day after day he sits in the warm kitchen while Nellie bakes and talks, pouring out her sorrows — the children grown and gone, the son the sea took — and Edward finds himself doing what he never did on Egypt Street: he is attentive. He listens. In the evenings Lawrence carries him to the beach and names the constellations burning over the water, and the rabbit who once loved only mirrors discovers he cares for these two tender, weathered people. Then the couple’s grown daughter Lolly visits, sees a doll in a dress at her mother’s table, and is filled with disgust. When the visit ends, so does Susanna’s life: Lolly discards Edward — straight into the rubbish.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Words of the cottage: mend, tender, sorrow, attentive, constellation, discard… |
| Literary Elements | The motif of names, irony, and the theme of listening |
| Cross-Curricular | How the night sky is mapped, and what a fishing cottage’s day was like |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| 9 | Hauled Ashore — Lawrence the fisherman carries the strange catch home to Nellie. |
| 10 | Susanna — a sewn dress, a new name, and a warm seat in the kitchen. |
| 11 | Listening — Nellie’s sorrows by day, Lawrence’s constellations by night — and a rabbit who finally pays attention. |
| 12 | Lolly — the grown daughter’s disgust; the visit ends with Edward in the rubbish. |
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- Lolly visits — and discards Edward with the rubbish.
- Lawrence carries the muddy rabbit home from the nets.
- Nellie sews a dress and names the rabbit Susanna.
- Lawrence names the constellations over the night water.
- Edward listens, attentive, to Nellie’s sorrows.
Think back over the cottage days. A muddy treasure rides home in a fish basket. A grieving mother sews it a dress and a name, and talks the quiet out of her kitchen. An old man holds a china rabbit up to the burning constellations as if introducing old friends. And a rabbit who once loved a mirror finds, to his astonishment, that he loves two weathered people — just in time to lose them to a stranger’s disgust.
Long before compasses and satellites, travelers steered by the sky. A constellation is a pattern agreed upon in the stars — a hunter, two bears, a crown — and the agreement is the point: if every sailor sees the same pictures, every sailor can trade directions. The most useful star of all barely moves. The North Star hangs above the North Pole, so a traveler who finds it has found true north — and can navigate onward with nothing but eyes and memory. Fishermen were among the sky's most attentive readers. Working dark water before dawn, a fisherman learned the stars the way city people learn streets: which pictures rise where, season by season, and how high they stand above the horizon — the line where sky meets sea. To such a reader the night is not empty; it is signed and labeled. Teaching someone the constellations was passing on a family treasure: the whole sky, handed over one picture at a time.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 3 “The Listener in My Kitchen”
Nellie tells her sorrows to a rabbit who cannot answer — and it helps. Write about a listener of your own, real or imagined: a pet, a toy, a tree, a patient grandparent. What would you tell them this week, and why does saying it out loud matter? Write at least 40 words.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 3 Complete!
You finished Chapters 9–12 of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kate DiCamillo. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Kate DiCamillo’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.