Customer Reviews

Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a treasure and every home should have a copy on their shelf. You will have children and grandchildren to read the stories to. And, for heaven's sake, you can read and enjoy them as an adult. These are children's stories, to be sure, but they are very charming, the language is pleasant and better than most of what is fobbed off as "children's literature" today. And the paintings and drawings are glorious.

These stories have been in print for a century because they are so special. The animals are fantasies, yes, but Beatrix Potter was also a keen observer of animals and nature. I love how, in Nutkin, she has the squirrels bring the owl different gifts of animals to eat in exchange for gathering nuts on his island. However, she has the squirrels building rafts and traveling over the water to the island! My granddaughter loved this story and laughed very hard at how silly Nutkin is.

This treasury also has a short note at the beginning of each story about its origins and the Miss Potter's life at the time it was created. Nutkin, for example, is based on the musings of an old lady who lived on the island and thought they squirrels came from all around when the nuts were ripe. She enjoyed thinking they came on little rafts. We also learn that "The Tailor of Gloucester" was her personal favorite among her stories, and it is easy to understand why.

The stories range from those with few words to some with many words and fewer drawings. None of them are tremendously long. Readers of all abilities can find something to tackle. In fact, those who can't read yet should be given the opportunity to "read" you the story they see in the pictures. What fun that is!

Another wonderful thing is how the characters make reappearances, but remain affected by what happened to them in a previous story. Peter Rabbit is never as rash as he was after his bare escape from Farmer McGregor in the first story.

Simply, I cannot praise the quality of this book enough and urge you to get a copy for yourself and your family. It is produced with quality and care and is protected by a very nice slipcase. These kinds of collections are usually called a treasury, but this one really is a treasure.

We purchased "Beatrix Potter - The Complete Tales" as a book to read to our grandchildren. We were not sure how little children raised on TV and video games would respond to the sweet, slow-moving tales written over a century ago. What we found was constant requests to "read another one, Grandpa," and "just one more." The little ones absolutely loved this book. The book is beautifully illustrated, beautifully bound, and protected in its box cover.
If you treasure good books, quality books, and wish to pass along these sweet stories to another generation rather than see them watching death and mayhem on the boob tube, we would highly recommend this book for your collection.

I bought this item for my mother because she was such a fan of the Peter Rabbit stories. However, inside this book was every single story of Potter's that was published including ones that never had a chance to be published before her death. Along with this are the original paintings she created for each story. My mother absolutely loves this and now reads it to my baby sister any chance she can. It is a must have for children's stories.

I purchased this single book collection of Beatrix Potter stories because our oldest, aged four, loves Peter Rabbit. We had planned to read one story per evening before bed but the great writing style and pictures of Ms. Potter so grabbed our four year old's attention that we ended up reading one at bed, at rising in the morning and before nap time. Even my husband would drop what he was busy with to come and listen to storytime! The adventures and the names Ms Potter came up with are charming and fun to say. One does have to know some Engligh terms and be able to explain those vocabulary on the quick but it sure is fun to hear your child increase his vocabulary with the neighbor kids! We have certainly gotten a hoot out of the appropriate word usage he has picked up from these stories and then will explain to his friends to help "teach" them. We've read through this book many times to our delight.

This book is absolutely gorgeous! I am so happy with it. I got it for my little great-niece so she, too, can be enchanted by these wonderful tales and drawings.

Being an avid reader myself as a child, I thought it was so important to begin a collection of fantastic books for my baby. This was one of the first on my list, and I'm thrilled with the quality. The illustrations are stunning, as well as the weighty feel of each page and the nice, thick hardcover. Not highlighted in the description was the nifty hardback protective sheath that comes with the book--what a fabulous extra! I know it will be a book my daughter will treasure for many years to come and she will enjoy many bedtimes with this book. I especially liked that it was the complete tales, not just a few Beatrix Potter favorites--it was important to me that I get the "whole collection" of stories when buying a book like this. I'd recommend this book to anyone who values high-quality, heirloom books! You won't be disappointed.

Purchased for my granddaughter - A nice surprise for whole family, parents watched a new released movie about Beatrix Potter after receiving this book. A very nice gift for young people and parents who read with their children especially younger generations this book introduces them to a great classic.

I bought this for my wife after we viewed the Miss Potter DVD. She loves it. We don't have children, but we read the tales to our Borzoi. She is in the Marin Humane Society SHARE program. As a therapy dog, Lara is eligible to enter the child reading program. In that program, children read to dogs if they have a learning problem. The dogs listen attentively, and there is no peer derision from other children.

This very affordable volume has all of the Potter titles including a few I had never seen before (some of them not published during the author's lifetime). The rabbit stories seem to get the attention when people speak of Potter's work. But for my money the mouse stories are the best: especially "The Tailor of Gloucester" and "The Tale of Johhny Town-Mouse." I hadn't remembered how much all of Beatrix Potter's tales seem to revolve around eating and being eaten. They are in that regard, as in others, an excellent reflection of th e real "lives" of the animals that she dresses and gives words to. The paintings are wonderfully reproduced here and, if the book is much too large and heavy for little hands, it is a very good size for setting on one's lap along with the child who wants a story.

While this is a beautiful anthology, I find that my children never choose to read it or look at it themselves because it is simply too heavy and bulky for little hands. It's heavy to hold while laying down reading before bed, so I don't tend to pick it as a read-aloud either. The binding has also broken loose from the pages, caused by a very little girl trying to carry the book by the front cover! I've decided to break down and get the individual boxed set of stories so that we will actually read them!