The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding

I have happy memories of my mother reading Beatrix Potter stories to me at bedtime.

But not this one.

She had to stop reading a few pages in. I was terrified by the prospect of poor Tom Kitten being baked in a roly-poly pudding, even though I didn’t have a cat.

And I was even more strangely haunted by this picture of the rat, Anna Maria:

For years, I was so upset at the possibility of glimpsing the cover that my mother hid the book in another room.

Whatever the mental trauma, the irony is that this was the only Beatrix Potter that did not physically injure me. I had all the books in a little bookcase designed specifically for them, like this:

For some reason, this was hung above the top end of my bed. One night, I was woken by a cascade show more of sharp-cornered little hardback books falling on my face!

Fortunately, and perhaps surprisingly, it did not put me off books in general, or even Potter specifically.

You can read the whole book, with Potter's original illustrations, on Gutenberg here - if you dare! show less

This story has the usual enchanting paintings by Potter, but the tale is odder than usual, and might actually frighten small children into being scared of rats that make kittens into puddings by rolling them in pastry.
A lot of the words describing ordinary household items of Potter's day will be largely incomprehensible without adult help.

Tabitha Twitchet has three very naughty kittens, Moppet, Mittens and Tom Kitten; whom she keeps on loosing tracks on. One day, they went missing once more, but as she search high and low, she could only find Moppet and Mittens. Tome however, didn't go missing, but merely hiding in the chimney only to be captured by a enormous Samuel Whiskers. His wife begins to prep up the ingredients to turn the terrified Tom into a "Kitten dumpling roly-poly pudding"

This is a cute story, with quite a plot that could turn and twist your kids in gasping suspense. Aid with beautiful illustration to aid your children in nurturing them with absolutely healthy imaginations. I actually enjoy reading this as well.

An extra long story featuring Tom Kitten and how he (almost) ended up as a pastry...

The story of how a mischievious kitten named Tom meets a clever rat named Samuel. Potter's illustrations are amazing in detail and movement.

This is another story involving Tom the Kitten. Once again, he has found a way to get himself in trouble. Rats are usually hunted by cats, but this story illustrates the opposite happening. Will Tom the Kitten ever learn?

Tom Kitten happens upon the rats' quarters and is nearly made into a roly-poly pudding for their dinner.