#58. Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales

The Complete Tales by Beatrix Potter

Pages: 400
Finished: Aug. 16, 2007
Reason for Reading: Read aloud to my 7yob
First Published: 1902-1930
Genre: children's picture book, animal fantasy
Rating: 4/5

First Sentence:


Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were -- Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.


Reccomend: Yes. I've been reading this aloud to my 7yo for a month or so, reading one story every now and then. The stories are presented here in chronological order as published with 4 unpublished works at the end. The stories are wonderful, darling tales of anthropomorphic animals. Once she married in 1913 she didn't have as much time for her painting and writing and I think it shows as the stories in the first half of the book are much more enjoyable than the latter ones. The stories are somewhat didactic but not overly so. They are also much more violent than I would have thought them to be. Naughty children are spanked frequently and Potter presents as a matter of fact that animals are often killed by hunters, farmers and other animals.

The 7yo really enjoyed the stories, especially the ones in which Peter Rabbit or members of his family appeared. Also, while each story stands alone there are references to prior events and characters and this was fun to notice when reading them in order. This edition itself includes a brief biography of Beatrix Potter at the front and prior to each story is a short introductory paragraph detailing connections in the story with Potter's real life. All the original illustrations, including the original front covers illustrations, are included and this is a book that can be browsed through just for the gorgeous watercolours and sketches.

Comments

  1. I had only ever read Peter Rabbit until last week when my husband and I watched the movie Miss Potter (which I very much enjoyed). I found most of the set at a garage sale last week and am working through them. They are so cute and I'm looking forward to it!

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  2. carrie: I haven't seen the movie yet, but now that I've read these I really want to see it!

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