The Tale of Peter Rabbit

This is my favourite of Potter's superb series: I love the way Peter holds up his chin to have his coat buttoned up (cover), while everywhere else his coat is flying open - this is obviously a regular task for mother. I hope he is able to retrieve his coat and shoes from Mr McGregor's garden, because they are not working as a scarecrow. The joy of Potter's illustrations is that they are filled with details natural enough to be recognized by young readers, like the birds sneaking berries from the basket.

I must admit to being quite fascinated both by Beatrix Potter's consummate skill as a watercolour artist and her skill at story telling. Here, the Tale of Peter Rabbit is printed as a large format (A4) version....not the little book format that she insisted on for her young readers. And, it must be admitted, was such a success. I don't know if the original illustrations were done this size..... Hmm, did a bit of research and found one held in the British Museum and from the size of the hands holding the picture I estimate that the original illustrations were either drawn at actual size for printing in the small format books or were about 30% larger and were reduced for publication (which would improve the apparent detail). It's show more significant that when she was approached by Walt Disney in 1930 for the rights to an animated version, she refused on the grounds that her pictures would have to be enlarged for the animation and this would emphasise all their flaws. And certainly, the original tale that she drew of Peter Rabbit, in a letter to Noel Moore. had very small drawings . I've also seen a preliminary drawing of Mr McGregor that was on paper 16.5 x 11.2 cm ...which leads me to think that the original drawings were the actual size that they were printed. Why does all this matter? Well the book under review here has large illustrations. This is great if one is studying her technique, colouration etc. but it does enhance any flaws. Frankly, I don't think it matters because the drawings still look lovely. And the story of Peter Rabbit is virtually poetry. I love the cadence when it's read aloud. And the hint of menace in most of her stories makes them all the more fascinating and slightly terrifying. ..."Your father had an accident there......pause........He was put in a pie by Mrs McGregor."
This book was published as a special edition to commemorate 100 years since the initial publication by Warnes. Maybe it underwrote their business for the 100 years because it's still being published in multiple languages...and is enormously popular in Japan, for example. (Though Warne's didn't copyright in the USA and lost all rights and royalties there....bad oversight. But interesting that the USA is now complaining about the same thing being done to them by China with intellectual property).
I'm a fan and this is a lovely book. As Warne's point out, with modern publishing technology, they were actually able to clean up the original drawings, maybe improve the colour slightly ...and it's a very worthwhile publication to have.....(even if it is not as Beatrix herself wanted it: as a tiny book for tiny hands). Actually I find the tiny books a pain to shelve....they are just a non-standard size.
Anyway, five stars from me. A lovely publication and a stunningly successful illustrated story. show less

This is the classic tale of a young rabbit who, rather than behave like the rest of his siblings, gets into adventurous trouble at the local farm.

Probably part of the reason I've never reviewed this title before is that everything to be said about it has already been said by far more eloquent people than me.

Still, after recently re-reading it with my niece, I felt I should finally acknowledge it with a review here.

The story is simple but perfectly paced for young readers. Mischievous Peter gets a bit of a comeuppance but not so much that children will take away the message that making mistakes is unforgivable.

Potter's illustrations are lovely, with gentle pastels capturing the beauty of nature.

The gorgeous illustrations make this book a classic. They are beautiful, adorable and evocative. Such a talent to combine realistic depictions of animals with a quaint charm. The actual story also manages to be a neat morality tale without being overbearing or unpleasant. Wonderful.

This classic children's story leaves young readers on the edge of their seat as they follow the journey of Peter Rabbit, a rather naughty and mischievous rabbit. The young rabbit decides to venture into the garden belonging to Mr. McGregor. His siblings, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, follow their mother's words, but Peter does not follow the warning to stay out of the garden. Readers will enjoy the hijinks that Peter finds himself in, and understand the important lesson that Peter learns as a result. The use of detailed and beautiful illustrations draw readers in, as well as the high levels of vocabulary words in the text.

summary: Peter Rabbit is a curious little rabbit that misbehaves and goes into a garden where his mother told him to stay away from. He ends up losing his clothes and is chased out of the garden/farm/shed of Mr. McGregor and ends up going to sleep early because of being so exhausted, while his siblings ate a nice dinner.
reflection: My whole infancy is summed up in this book. My bedroom when I was born until I was 3 1/2 was Peter Rabbit themed and I remember it constantly. Re-reading this book reminded me of childhood. It reminded me and made me think of how curious I used to be as a child, just like Peter Rabbit. I always adventured outside and did things that my parents asked me not to, occasionally getting myself into trouble but show more always learning a lesson from it. On the other hand, my sister always followed the rules and did what she was supposed to do, she was less curious than I was but it paid off for me in the long run!
It reminded me of when I snuck into the neighbors yard as a child and tried to take some of the apples growing on her tree. I got caught and had to apologize to her later on. I felt so silly for not listening to my parents afterwards! show less

The Tale of Peter the Rabbit was a really kid friendly book. The most entertaining part of this book is, obviously, the engaging pop art that Beatrix Potter contributed to the book. I think children would really enjoy reading this book, while getting the chance to “act out” the scenes with Peter the Rabbit. The story tells us how Peter the Rabbit did not listen to his mother and got caught in a big mess. His mother told Peter and his siblings not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden; Potter hints the fact that Peter’s father died after being caught in Mr. McGregor’s garden by saying that “he was put in a pie.” But unfortunately, Peter does not listen to his mother and goes straight into the garden. The story goes on to show more describe the wild goose chase between Peter and Mr. McGregor, and how Peter was almost caught. By the end of the story Peter is all tired out and finds his way back home. The stories’ ending was not what I expected. I think instead of going into great detail about why Peter should not have gone into the garden, Potter chose to end it by saying how Peter was so tired from running around that his siblings ate all the good food their mother brought home. I think the point was to show how Peter didn’t listen to his mother, which led to bad consequences for his actions. Very cute book, I think kids would really enjoy it. show less