Ah, the classic: The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Did you know? There is a whole website for the version I have (Frederick Warne, 2007). One day, I will have a first edition Potter. She was delightful and unconventional! And of course, I admire a woman who pushed against turn-of-the-twentieth century sexism to have her clever tales, with her brilliant watercolor illustrations, published. Don't forget, she has 22 other tales for you to enjoy. A likes the soothing, bouncy voice that comes so naturally when reading this book. (If only I could do it in British English!) I appreciate that the characters in her books offer oh-so-subtle commentaries on her society and, typical of children's books from the mid-nineteenth to late-twenty-first centuries, they teach a moral. But what sets Potter apart from the relentlessly Victorian children's storytellers of her time is that the naughty characters get sympathy for their transgressive adventuring. I hope that if A loses all her clothes while trespassing in a dangerous but delicious garden, that she will punish herself with regret and I will tuck her in with tea...ready to start a beautiful new day in the morning.
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