Beatrix Potter: A Review and Some Memories! :)

Beatrix Potter as an older woman, with her favorite dog: Kep

I don't think there is a single child in America and Great Britain who has not, at one point or another, experienced the fascinating world of Beatrix Potter. Her illustrations are, in my opinion, flawless, and the strike true as much today, when I am 18, as they did when I was 3. I have always loved Miss Potter's pictures since I was a small child. Back then, they entranced me because of the animals themselves, wearing such tiny clothes, yet looking so real....

No one can forget Jemima Puddleduck and the "Sandy-whiskered Gentleman"

Nor can one forget Jeremy Fisher and his sloshy hallways and friends that come to tea wearing black and gold waistcoats, and other such things! :)

And of course we mustn't forget dear, naughty little Peter Rabbit! :)

Now I love her art because of how faithful she was to keeping the animals themselves looking like real mice, or hedgehogs, or foxes, or geese, and yet romanticising their world to form a storybook land that seems as if you could step into it if you just went over one more hill. :) Recently, I bought the whole collection of her stories for children in one volume to put in my hopechest. These books have been a part of my childhood all the way up, and someday I want to read them to my own young ones. I can remember Dad and Mama reading them to me. I had a strange fascination with "The Tale of The Fierce, Bad Rabbit". I was terrified, and interested all at once. I always jumped when the hunter shot the bad rabbit's tail off- Dad would make a loud "Pop!" noise and jog the book! :) There are so many wonderful little tales! And they are all so clever! Particularly "Squirrel Nutkin" where she incorporates near a dozen little riddles, and hides their answers in the main body of the story! :) Gracie's personal favorite, and the one that I read to her every time I put her to bed is:

This is perhaps, the most frightening of Beatrix Potter's books! Benjamin and Abigail hated it, because Tom Kitten almost gets eaten by the rats: Old Samuel Whiskers and his wife "Anna-Maria"! :) But Gracie, like me with the Fierce Bad Rabbit, gets a certain thrill out of hearing the tale over and over and over and over again! :) She knows Tom Kitten will be okay, she has heard the story a hundred times if she has once, but still, she hides her eyes, and squeals, and shrinks when I say, in a particular voice: "Anna-Maria? Are you sure the string will be digestible? I'm not sure it's a good pudding- it is all over with smuts!" and when I read the "butter and dough" quarrel. I get as much enjoyment out of the story as she! :) Anyway, this is a sort of book-review/ nostalgic post! :) I highly recommend any of the Beatrix Potter books. Some are more interesting to little ones than others- Gracie does not like "The Pie and The Patty-Pan", or "The Tailor of Gloucester" for instance. But she adores "Mrs. Tittlemouse", "The Flopsy Bunnies" and "The Tale of Two Bad Mice". I think it hardly possible that anyone could go throughout childhood without enjoying her stories, but if you have not read them yourself, and wish for a good old-fashioned tale to read to your siblings, by all means find a copy somewhere! You will not be disappointed! :) -Rachel