… Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter
Peter Rabbit first made his appearance in 1902 in Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Peter was a very naughty rabbit, who disobeyed his mother, despite being told the terrible fate of his father who had had an accident in Mr McGregor’s garden and was put into a pie by Mrs McGregor. He squeezed under the gate into the garden, ate lots of vegetables and then came face to face with Mr McGregor and escaped by the skin of his teeth.
Helen Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943) was an English author, illustrator, mycologist and conservationist best known for children’s books featuring anthropomorphic characters such as in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and rural lifestyle. (From Wikipedia)
Her original watercolour paintings and sketches are in the Beatrix Potter Gallery at Hawkshead, Cumbria. Hill Top, the house which she bought with the proceeds from sales of her books and which she used as an artistic retreat from London, is in Near Sawrey, near Hawkshead. She left it to the National Trust. It is open to the public and it remains just as it was when Beatrix lived there.
I love the watercolours in her books and this is my attempt at painting Peter Rabbit, copied from The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
An ABC Wednesday post.
Margaret – What a fine, nostalgic choice for “P.” I remember being read those books as a child, and reading them to my own daughter later on. They are truly a part of many people’s cultural histories, aren’t they?
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I read those stories to my daughter.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
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I love these now, but as a child I was an Alison Uttley, Little Grey Rabbit, fan and somehow Peter just didn’t catch my imagination.
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Annie, I didn’t read these as young child and by the time I did I thought they were too childish for me! I appreciate them now much more than I did then. But, I loved Little Grey Rabbit – then and now!
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I like her stories and watercolor drawings. Would love you to visit my ABC Wednesday page here.
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I was an Alison Uttley fan too, but I do appreciate Potter’s enduring artwork and what can sometimes seem a rather cruel charm – as indeed is the reality in the rural life she portrayed. x
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I’m a collector of Beatrix Potter books, and love the movie Mr. Potter that came out a few years ago.
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I remember playing Trivia with my daughter when she was much younger and she knew who wrote Peter Rabbit when I didn’t!
Donna – ABC Team
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Loved Peter Rabbit, and your watercolor of him is so precious. This brings back memories of my mother reading to me.
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I visited the Beatrix Potter house a few years ago. It’s a lovely place – very popular, it was very busy when we were there.
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