The Country Artist: A Story about Beatrix Potter (Creative Minds Biography) [Hardcover]

David R. Collins (Author), Karen Ritz (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1989 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Creative Minds Biography

A biography of the English author and illustrator who grew up during the Victorian era and whose detailed drawings of plants and animals found their way into her famous picture books.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Victorian childhood and upbringing of Beatrix Potter is potentially of much interest to middle-graders who were nourished in their early years by her Peter Rabbit stories. Because she and her family were hoarders, some of the earliest sketchbooks, letters, photographs and Potter's famous coded diaries are extant; as the recent Pierpont Morgan Library exhibition revealed, much is known of the influences on her life. Unfortunately, this account from the Creative Minds series relies heavily--and unnecessarily--on fictionalized dialogue and situations. Collins does not portray what was evidently an engaging relationship between the very young Beatrix and her father, emphasizing instead her repressive childhood (which has been proven, in recent years, more myth than reality). There is scant mention of some of the artist's commercial ventures or her refusal to alter the size of her books. Despite handsome pencil drawings, this account is a disappointment. Ages 9-11.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-- In six short chapters, Collins details Potter's life with a minimal amount of fictionalizing. Because there is no bibliography, it is impossible to know if Collins' research included Potter's childhood journals, decoded and published in 1966. However, such details as the relationship that the young Potter had with the family servants and what she ate for her meals are certainly the stuff of such journals. The book draws a fairly clear portrait of Potter's stuffy Victorian family, but in its brevity and easy-to-read format, Potter's timid, dutiful personality emerges only slightly. Patricia Frevert's Beatrix Potter: Children's Storyteller (Creative Ed., 1981) is aimed at older readers. The two biographies by Margaret Lane-- The Tale of Beatrix Potter (1968) and The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter (1978)--and Ulla Parker's Cousin Beatie (1981, all Warne) are all out of print. The book is illustrated with black-and-white drawings, some of which appear to be taken from photographs. A list of Potter's books is appended. --Patricia Homer, Lowville Academy, NY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876143443
• ISBN-13: 978-0876143445
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,833,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biography Highlights Life of Beatrix Potter, September 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Country Artist: A Story about Beatrix Potter (Creative Minds Biography) (Hardcover)

I drew this name as a book report subject, and I was not sure I would like it. I really enjoyed reading it. Beatrix was not expected to do much beyond fix flowers and play the piano. She became a world famous author. Young readers will love this quick paced life story.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MENAGERIE IN A NURSERY, May 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Country Artist: A Story About Beatrix Potter (Creative Minds Biography) (Paperback)

This is an easy introduction into the genre of Biography, only 52 pages, with pen and ink sketches by Karen Ritz. This book about the life of the first author to write a book just for children to enjoy (rather than be instructed from) can easily be read in one sitting. It reveals the crippling limitations of Victorian women of the Gentry in both Career and Marriage. Was poor Beatrix doomed to be a spinster?

An excellent First Biography in short sentences for school children. Also a good study in Victorian upbringing (where children were not always Seen, much less Heard!) Beatrix was raised in a home considered strict even by Victorian standards. Thus the book could stimulate discussion about when it was best/worst to be a child, as well as Women's Roles in Victorian Society. Children might even ask about Queen Victoria.

Most important is the care which Beatrix put into her books--not just the stories and the illustrations, but her insistence that the format be sized for children's smaller hands. The book includes a complete listing of her tales plus a bibliography. This book just might lead some elementary children to reread their childhood favorites! Or inspire them to read these tales aloud to Kindergarten classes. They would be amazed to learn that serious adults actually belong to a Peter Rabbit Society too!