The Tale of Peter Rabbit
1920
- rabbits, fiction
- children's fiction
- senses and sensation, fiction
- adventure and adventurers, fiction
- pictorial works
- juvenile fiction
- rabbits
- children's stories, english
- peter rabbit (fictitious character), fiction
- toy and movable books
The story
One of the best known and loved children's stories is the story of naughty Peter Rabbit and his misadventures as he is chased around a garden.
What it’s like
Soft watercolour pictures sit beside short, plain sentences, and the whole book has the hushed, sunlit feel of a summer garden seen up close: cabbage leaves, wet earth, a little blue jacket hung on a gate. Its vibe is gentle and wry, a cosy small-scale adventure with a faint thrill of getting caught. The pace is brisk but unhurried, each page turning on a single small action, and the emotional register stays light and affectionate, with a naughty young rabbit who learns, in a mild way, to mind his mother's advice. Nothing frightening happens; the peril is tiny and quickly forgiven, with no violence, gore, or cruelty. It suits a read-aloud at bedtime, a slow afternoon with a cup of tea, or a comfort revisit for adults who grew up with it. It is for readers who want something soothing, tender and quietly funny, and for children meeting their first picture book.
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