Product Description

To celebrate Peter's birthday, Frederick Warne is publishing new editions of all 23 of Potter's original tales, which take the very first printings of Potter's works as their guide. The aim of these editions is to be as close as possible to Beatrix Potter's intentions while benefiting from modern printing and design techniques.

The colors and details of the watercolors in the volumes are reproduced more accurately than ever before, and it has now been possible to disguise damage that has affected the artwork over the years. Most notably, The Tale of Peter Rabbit restores six of Potter's original illustrations. Four were sacrificed in 1903 to make space for illustrated endpapers, and two have never been used before. Of course, Beatrix Potter created many memorable children's characters, including Benjamin Bunny, Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle-duck and Jeremy Fisher. But whatever the tale, both children and adults alike can be delighted by the artistry in Potter's illustrations, while they also enjoy a very good read. Because they have always been completely true to a child's experience, Potter's 23 books continue to endure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #241325 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

About the Author
Written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter (1866-1943).

Customer Reviews

Naturalistic polemic in duck's clothing.
I always had Beatrix Potter down as an avatar of Home Counties tweeness, with her anti-modern paeans to the countryside and de liddle cuddly animals. So the unsentimental brutalities of this story came as a welcome shock. 'Jemima Puddle-Duck' is as endearingly hopeless as her name suggests, unable to tend her eggs in the overcrowded barn she shares with some supercilious hens. She flies over the forest in search of a suitably solitary spot, and comes across a helpful gentleman dressed in tweed, reading 'The Sporting Times'. He is a fox, and invites her to make use of his summer residence, in particular the shed carpeted with the feathers of previous victims. Dazzled by his good breeding, Jemima accepts his offer and visits daily. When the eggs are about to hatch, Foxy suggests she bring along various goodies so they can have a charming goodbye party...

The unremitting violence in this story does not emanate from where you'd expect, and this clear-eyed vision of the natural order of things, of brute force vs. cunning, takes place in the most idyllic setting yuou can think of, a richly detailed rural England, its hills and plants alive and painted in the most soothing colours. But even this balmy backdrop plays out a cycle of struggle for domination, with spiders eating flies, and various other creatures being horrid to one another.

Written at the turn of the 20th century, just before female emancipation, it's hard not to see the woebegotten Jemima as an image of women's fate in a world run by men, both good and bad, with the fox as parisitic aristo in straitened circumstances, and the dog as paternalistic liberal. Indeed, the whole thing plays like an Emile Zola potboiler disguised as toddler fodder. Upsetting, cruel and marvellous.

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck was the first Beatrix Potter book I read when I was young. It is the tale of a barnyard duck named Jemima who wishes to hatch her own eggs instead of leaving the task to the hens. She decides to leave and find a place to nest and encounters a polite gentleman with sandy whiskers who so kindly offers his help. It is a charming tale, as so many of Ms. Potter's stories are, complete with an endearing if not somewhat naive duck, a handsome yet sly fox and a wise old collie dog. The illustrations are quite nice, with some beautiful countryside scenes of Sawrey where the author lived. This story is a pleasure to read.

A Charming, Lesser Known Classic
THE TALE OF JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK is one of Beatrix Potter's lesser known tales, but it is still a favorite in our house. Jemima is a duck who wishes to hatch her own eggs. Apparently it is common on farms for hens to sit on duck eggs. Ducks in general, and Miss Jemima in particular, do not have the patience to sit on a nest for 28 days, so farmers transfer the eggs to hens. Jemima, however, is quite determined to hatch her own brood, and searches for a calm, quiet place to do so. In a secluded clearing, she meets an elegantly dressed gentleman with a long bushy tail, who is reading a newspaper. Jemima thinks he is mighty civil and handsome, and he is very solicitous of her plight. Jemima takes the sandy colored gentleman up on his offer of a safe, dry place to hatch her eggs. But there is more to this gentleman than meets the eye. Is he really as selfless as he seems?

THE TALE OF JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK quietly and deftly teaches children to be wary of strangers. This simple tale completely captures the imagination of young ones as they follow Jemima on her misadventures. As always, it is Ms. Potter's charming illustrations that are the true star of this book. Jemima looks like a real duck, albeit one who is wearing a bonnet and cape. The soft colors and rich detail of the original drawings continue to delight children of all ages.

My three year old has a special affinity to THE TALE OF JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK. Whenever the story refers to Jemima's sister-in-law, Mrs. Rebecca Puddle-duck, my wee one says, "That's me, Momma!" Any book that captures the imagination of my little puddle-duck is a winner with me.