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A review by poisonenvy
The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter: The Original and Authorized Edition Illustrated by Beatrix Potter
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't remember a lot of the books from my childhood, but I very clearly remember Beatrix Potter. Maybe it's because it's one of the few books that I've kept with me all throughout my life. This book came out in 1989, one year after I was born, and I think my Grandma must've bought it for me somewhere around that time.
She used to read it to me, and there are signs in my copy that I had been there. Scribbles in a blue ball-point pen, the outlines of a tiny hand. I read this book when I was older, too, and able to read for myself.
But I haven't read it in well over 20 years at this point, and so as part of my "read a short story every day" goal for 2023, I decided to pull this off the shelf and I spent 23 days reading it, one story at a time. I found myself almost more interested in the "About the Book" section that preceded each tale, where it discussed Beatrix Potter and what she was doing in her life at the time of the publication of the various stories.
Each story is cute and sweet, and absolutely stunningly illustrated. While Beatrix could tell a decent enough children's tale, her real talent was in her paintings and her drawings. They don't illustrate children's novels like this anymore (I assume. I guess I don't read a whole lot of Children's Literature, so maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't think I am), and I think that's a shame. Her illustrations are detailed and lovely, most of them painted, but several of them in black-and-white, especially as she got older and either too busy for painting, or began to lose her eyesight too much to accurately paint anymore.
These books made a lasting impression on me that have stayed with me for my whole life, and I'm glad to have spent the last 23 days reading them (and to finish reading them on Easter Sunday was almost too perfect hahah).
She used to read it to me, and there are signs in my copy that I had been there. Scribbles in a blue ball-point pen, the outlines of a tiny hand. I read this book when I was older, too, and able to read for myself.
But I haven't read it in well over 20 years at this point, and so as part of my "read a short story every day" goal for 2023, I decided to pull this off the shelf and I spent 23 days reading it, one story at a time. I found myself almost more interested in the "About the Book" section that preceded each tale, where it discussed Beatrix Potter and what she was doing in her life at the time of the publication of the various stories.
Each story is cute and sweet, and absolutely stunningly illustrated. While Beatrix could tell a decent enough children's tale, her real talent was in her paintings and her drawings. They don't illustrate children's novels like this anymore (I assume. I guess I don't read a whole lot of Children's Literature, so maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't think I am), and I think that's a shame. Her illustrations are detailed and lovely, most of them painted, but several of them in black-and-white, especially as she got older and either too busy for painting, or began to lose her eyesight too much to accurately paint anymore.
These books made a lasting impression on me that have stayed with me for my whole life, and I'm glad to have spent the last 23 days reading them (and to finish reading them on Easter Sunday was almost too perfect hahah).