Combining fascinating writing with magical illustrations, the stories of Beatrix Potter gained widespread recognition as masterpieces of children's literature. A perfect reflection of the vices and virtues of human beings, these fables - among which stand out the adventures of the famous Peter Rabbit - have served to delight generations with the mischievous ongoings of her characters drawn from the animal universe always serving to convey precious and timeless lessons for life.
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, mycologist, and conservationist who is best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters such as Peter Rabbit.
Born into a wealthy household, Potter was educated by governesses and grew up isolated from other children. She had numerous pets, and through holidays in Scotland and the Lake District, developed a love of landscape, flora, and fauna, all of which she closely observed and painted. Because she was a woman, her parents discouraged intellectual development, but her study and paintings of fungi led her to be widely respected in the field of mycology.
In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit and became secretly engaged to her publisher, Norman Warne, causing a breach with her parents, who disapproved of his social status. Warne died before the wedding.
Potter eventually published 24 children's books, the most recent being The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots (2016), and having become financially independent of her parents, was able to buy a farm in the Lake District, which she extended with other purchases over time.
In her forties, she married a local solicitor, William Heelis. She became a sheep breeder and farmer while continuing to write and illustrate children's books. Potter died in 1943 and left almost all of her property to The National Trust in order to preserve the beauty of the Lake District as she had known it, protecting it from developers.
Potter's books continue to sell well throughout the world, in multiple languages. Her stories have been retold in various formats, including a ballet, films, and in animation.
So, wow, this is the famous Beatrix Potter and the classics of children’s literature 🤯
After I found out the author just stole the idea for the Peter Rabbit’s tale, I’ve been feeling awfully disappointed (details here: https://theconversation.com/beatrix-p...).
Other tales are not cute at all, the morale of the stories is often lacking wisdom, it’s just silly, to be quite honest (this is a man with a gun, he shoots the bad rabbit and the rabbit is running away without the tail and the whiskers. That’s what you get being the “bad rabbit” who stole a carrot from the good rabbit…).
So the reason I didn’t like the most of the tales is: I simply think they’re outdated and I wouldn’t want my kid to read them. Clearly, the virtues in these stories are outdated too (with spanking and everything).
Look, I get it: it’s classics, they’ve been written in the early 1900s, the times were different and blah blah, but why are we still printing this in 2023? I don’t see a good reason and I’d rather give a chance to a children’s lit author who’s writing now, with nowadays virtues and issues I would want my kid to grow up with.
Nostalgia abound in this collection of classic English children's stories. As an adult I particularly enjoyed the sometimes brutal matter-of-factness one wouldn't easily dare publish in children's books today.
"Now, my dears, said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden. Your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor." [insert picture of said pie]
Though this Livraria Lello edition is very pretty with its yellow pages and well-designed hardcover, a rare few of the pictures are of low printing quality and the book somehow contains spelling mistakes. Both are unforgivable for a republished classic.
My friend bout me this book from Livraria Lello, Porto. It has a stunning red cover underneath the book jacket with the bookshop's own stamp.
Very well named, this truly is a book of some of the most beautiful stories of the wonderful Beatrix Potter. Only 4* because there were quite a number of spelling mistakes in this edition, which do not feature in the originals.
Una bella edizione rilegata che proviene dalla "libreria più bella del mondo" (la Libraria Llevo di Porto) regalatami da un'amica che ci è stata, e che mi ha portato questo graditissimo pensiero. Storielle di animali della campagna inglese, con deliziosi disegni.