Peter Rabbit [Hardcover]

As a new parent, I am coming to learn that it is difficult to buy board books sight unseen, even if it is a familiar story (or perhaps especially when it is a familiar story). This cover to this board book is adorable and that's what drew me in to choose this Peter Rabbit board book over the others. The illustrations are from the original and the story is adapted from the original, but with every every other page or so missing.

In the original, Peter and his sisters are told to go gather blackberries and not to go into MacGregor's garden because Peter's father was made into a pie by MacGregor after being found in the garden. Peter, who is wearing a new coat, promptly disobeys his mother, stuffs himself with vegetables, gets spotted by MacGregor, loses his coat and barely makes it out of the garden alive. When Peter gets home, he is given chamomile tea for dinner. Peter's sisters, who listened to their mother and stayed out of the forbidden garden have a regular dinner.

In the board book, the risks Peter took and the consequences of his disobedience are left out. Peter loses his coat from one illustration to the next, but it's not explained. His sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, though introduced on the first page, never reappear; you lose the comparison between bad Peter who has tea for dinner and good sisters who have a nice full dinner. Also, the board book says Peter has tea for dinner because he's so tired, not because he has a tummy ache from the vegetables like in the original, as well as because he disobeyed his mother and is being punished. This book reads as if Peter is just being chased out of the garden rather than being chased down -- MacGregor's goal is to catch Peter and eat him, but you can't tell that from this book.

Now that I'm working on my fourth edition of this classic title, I thought it was time to merge the reviews to make comparison easier. Each edition has its own star rating, below, before the review text.

First, the standard recap: Peter disobeys his mother and sneaks into Mr MacGregor's garden, despite knowing that his father ended up in a pie. Spotted and chased, Peter barely escapes and returns home wet and sick and is dosed with camomile tea. (I have yet to find a version that's so Americanized that it's spelled chamomile, which I think is a cool detail.) His siblings feast on bread and milk and blackberries.

ISBN 1403753911 The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Based on the original art and story) 4 stars - Board book edition. Very small, about 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, excellent for taking along. In this edition, it's spelled McGregor. Not that it matters. This edition doesn't mention Peter's father's end as pie filling, a plus for the squeamish or over-sensitive. Or vegetarian. In this version, the clothes Peter loses are put to use by Mr McGregor as a scarecrow. Mother wonders about his clothes, but no fuss is made. And, of course, Peter feels unwell and is put to bed and given some tea (just tea, not camomile tea). Cute, great for little ones and the text hits all the relevant points. The illustrations are a bit on the dark side, and are a bit small.

ISBN 1569870217 The Tale of Peter Rabbit (3 stars) - Hardcover edition. This is the basic story with few frills. The illustrations are average and have nothing in the way of surprises. Not a bad book, but certainly not a great re-telling of this tale.

ISBN 1569870675 The Tale of Peter Rabbit (5 stars) - This copy is a hardcover, most suitable to children whose little fingers can handle the pages. It's also 24 pages long - just long enough for beginning readers. Father still ends up in a pie, Peter still disobeys his mother and goes into Mr MacGregor's garden. The chase in this book is better written than 1569870217 (below), with a mention of Peter's cousin, Benjamin Bunny, as a nice way to introduce your children to other Potter books. Peter still ends up barely escaping, losing all his clothes to Mr MacGregor, and arriving home sick. This copy has more detail, and much nicer illustrations than others. Peter, when caught up in the gooseberry net, or with a tear in his eye as he tries to ask directions of the mouse, are wonderfully done. I'd never have thought there could be such a difference between various copies of the same story, but you learn something new every day - unlike Peter, who just can't seem to learn and has lost his second set of clothing in a fortnight (nice detail)!

ISBN 0723244324 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Story Board Book (Potter) (4 stars) - Board book binding, best for very young children whose fingers can't manipulate paper pages easily. There are a couple differences in this book: Father and his ignoble end as pie filling aren't mentioned. The fact that Peter returns home sick is left out, so his mother merely puts him to bed with camomile tea for no apparent reason and no fuss is made over his missing jacket. This version is greatly abridged, but is an okay introduction for little ones. The illustrations are full of lots of details and are very much on the pastel side, which I don't like, but that's common with Potter's tales.

- AnnaLovesBooks

This is a great first Peter Rabbit book for your baby. The pictures are Beatrix Potter origanials and the story is short and to the point.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.3 out of 5 stars